Established in 1985 by Zimbabwean-born ceramic artist Fée Halsted on a farm in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains, Ardmore has grown into the largest ceramic art studio in South Africa. The studio’s distinctive aesthetic emerged from collaboration between Fée Halsted and Bonnie Ntshalintshali, which drew national attention when they won the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist award in 1990. Today, founder Fée Halsted and more than seventy artists have developed Ardmore’s distinctive aesthetic over forty years, with President Cyril Ramaphosa awarding Fée Halsted the Order of Ikhamanga for her contribution to the visual arts.
Two or three artists are involved in each piece, which is individually thrown on the potter’s wheel, modeled and hand-painted, creating a collaborative process where each ceramic artwork has at least two parents – a sculptor and an artist, with deft brushstrokes adding colour to bring the artworks to life. American Amaco paints and transparent glazes brought vibrant colour and fine painting style to the ceramics, while the exuberant exotic style developed through necessity when Fée made tiles and would stick a rabbit or bird on top to hide cracks. Energetic movement, intricate detailing, and vibrant color define the Ardmore aesthetic, with safari animals bursting with life from luxuriant foliage to form quirky vases, candlesticks, tureens, and teapots. The surfaces are wildly decorated — leaves, flowers, and animals emerge from a welter of irregular dots, lines, and geometric patterns, demonstrating extreme detailing as one of the most obvious characteristics of Ardmore ware. Christie’s, one of the world’s most prestigious fine art auction houses, has labelled Ardmore’s ceramics as ‘modern-day collectibles’, while the studio has collaborated with global brands such as Hermès and Cole and Son and earned recognition at Christie’s.
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in Bahia.