Charles Vyse was a British studio potter and ceramic sculptor celebrated for his innovative figurines and distinctive contributions to 20th-century British ceramics. Born in Staffordshire in 1882, Vyse trained at the Royal College of Art before securing a position at Doulton in 1909, where he developed a reputation for finely modelled figures that combined traditional craftsmanship with a modern sensibility.
Together with his wife Nell Vyse, he established a studio in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in 1919. There, the pair produced a series of highly individual slip-cast figures, often inspired by London street life, ranging from flower sellers to street musicians. These works, admired for their characterful modelling and painterly glazes, captured a unique sense of social realism and are today regarded as icons of interwar British studio ceramics.
Alongside his figurative work, Vyse also produced studio pottery that reflected his deep interest in Chinese ceramics. His stoneware vessels, often decorated with celadon, chun, and temmoku glazes, demonstrated both technical mastery and an appreciation of historical form reinterpreted through a modern lens.
Vyse exhibited widely, including with the Royal Academy, the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, and at leading London galleries. His work is represented in major collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, which holds a significant group of his Chelsea figures.
