Burgess & Leigh (Burleigh Ware) | Meadowland Pattern | Zenith Shape Teapot | Art Deco Earthenware | Burslem, England, c.1930s

The Zenith shape did not arrive quietly — it arrived with angles, with intent, and with the clear conviction that a teapot could belong as much to design as to utility.

Burgess & Leigh, trading as Burleigh Ware from the Middleport Pottery in Burslem since 1851, reached one of its most distinctive creative periods during the late 1920s and 1930s. Under the direction of Harold Bennett and with the modelling of Ernest Bailey, the factory introduced a series of angular, forward-looking tableware forms — among them the Zenith shape, registered as no. 769495 — that reflect the influence of Art Deco at its most confident and modern. The Meadowland pattern, applied here in polychrome with hand-finished colouring over a transfer outline, balances naturalistic floral detail with a controlled, graphic clarity that suited the form perfectly.

This example is a classic Zenith teapot: a tapering cylindrical body set on a stepped foot ring, with a sharply angled handle and a short, faceted spout with a lipped tip. The handle is fully glazed in a warm amber-orange, providing a strong visual counterpoint to the decoration. The domed lid is surmounted by a modelled flower bud finial with green leaves, echoed by a small applied leaf sprig at the upper handle junction — both intact and crisply defined.

The Meadowland decoration is vivid and well preserved, with clustered orange and amber blossoms, yellow-green buds, and bold green leaves set against a soft cream ground. The design is framed at the foot and lid by Burleigh’s distinctive “Sunshine” dash-and-dot band, edged with a fine amber line. The interior retains a clean, warm cream glaze. The base carries the printed Meadowland mark alongside the Burleigh / Made in England / Zenith / Reg. Shape 769495 backstamp, with a hand-painted size mark.

The teapot remains in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, or crazing. The modelled finial and applied leaf are intact, and the hand-finished decoration retains its clarity and depth of colour.

Collector Appeal

A well-preserved example of Burleigh’s most recognisable Art Deco form, combining sculptural shape with one of the factory’s most successful decorative patterns. The intact modelled elements, strong colour, and clear factory marks place it comfortably above the average surviving examples of the type.

• Maker: Burgess & Leigh (Burleigh Ware), Middleport Pottery, Burslem
• Pattern: Meadowland
• Shape: Zenith, Registered Shape No. 769495
• Form: Teapot with lid
• Material: Earthenware
• Country of Origin: England
• Period: c.1930s

Dimensions

• Handle to spout: 21 cm
• Width: 12.7 cm
• Height: 14 cm
• Weight: 555 g

Condition: Excellent

Nine decades on, the Zenith shape still carries the confidence of its moment — and in Meadowland, with its colour, form, and detail intact, it remains an unusually complete expression of Burleigh’s Art Deco ambition.