Design and Art Australia Online

We know surprisingly little about the life of Louis Bilton. According to Desmond Eyles, the authority on Doulton, Louis Bilton trained under William Mussell (1828-1906), a gifted painter of flowers and birds at Mintons. The 1881 British Census revealed that Bilton was also living in Stoke-on-Trent and, then aged 21 years, was described as a china-painter. As this famous ceramics firm was established at Stoke-on-Trent in 1796 and Mussill was active there from c.1870 until his death this suggestion seems very likely. The census also reveals a close connection to the ceramic industry as his father John was listed as a pottery manager and his older brother Ernest, was his assistant. Perhaps they worked at Mintons also.

It is uncertain as to how the connection between Bilton and the `Picturesque Atlas of Australasia’ was established, but he travelled to Sydney in 1885 to work on the project and returned to England in 1887 after its completion. The 'Atlas’, published in three volumes 1883-86, provided a comprehensive coverage of the discovery, geography and development of the Australian colonies written by the most authoritative writers available and illustrated with engravings by leading artists such as Julian Ashton, W.C. Piguenit, Henry Fullwood, Tom Roberts and Marian Ellis Rowan (who provided designs of Australian flora for the rival firm of Worcester). The 'Atlas’, an artistic but not financial success, greatly assisted the development of the Australian black and white school of illustration clustered around the Sydney `Bulletin’. Bilton’s role in this venture was to provide decorative frames of Australian flowers and foliage for some of the scenic panels and vignettes of Australian flora.

Bilton did not involve himself much in Sydney’s artistic activity while he resided here. In the catalogue of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales’ annual exhibition in 1886 Louis Bilton was listed as a member of the society and his address was given as 382 George Street, Sydney. His only exhibit was in the eighth annual exhibition the following year. Bilton exhibited No. 196 Bush beauties (described as an 'original from nature’) in the category of decorated plaques – by this time, however, he had returned to London. Bilton’s was one of eleven entries in this category. Whereas the others were in the range three to five guineas his plaque was priced at £26/5/- which gives an indication of the value that Bilton attributed to his work.

When Bilton took up employment with Doultons in 1892 (where he stayed for twenty years), he brought with him a splendid portfolio of Australian flowers he had sketched in situ: wattle, waratah, wild fuchsia, desert pea, flannel flower, bottle brush, etc. His painting of some of these motifs on vases (as noted earlier) were displayed at the 1892 Chicago Exhibition and won worldwide acclaim. The vases and plaques he decorated are in a distinctive period style with rather feathery china painted details and the outlines enhanced with gilt.

But did he actually produce any china painting in Australia? In 1915 Richard T. Baker, then the Curator of the Technological Museum (later the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and subsequently the Powerhouse Museum) in his The Australian Flora in Applied Art, included an illustration of a plaque decorated by Bilton with waratah and the cream flowers of the Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana). It was owned by John Shorter, Parramatta, the representative in Australia of the Doulton Factory and the wording 'Painted from living specimens by Doulton’s artist, Louis Bilton, when visiting Australian in the 1880s, suggests the plaque was painted in Sydney rather than after his return to England. But was it a ceramic plaque? The illustration does not suggest china painting as it was an exceptional, 40 centimetres across, and one wonders what kiln was available in Sydney where the plaque could have been fired numerous times to fix the glazes. Perhaps it was a painted metal plaque as records of these being exhibited in contemporary exhibitions are not uncommon. John Shorter’s family collection does, in fact, have a piece by Bilton which was a record of a trip that he and Louis took to the Blue Mountains. It is a tile and a work of such small dimensions could have easily been fired in Sydney.

Bilton is represented in Australian public collections with some quite spectacular pieces decorated with Australian floral motifs The most famous is the large urn in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with its spectacular decoration of waratah. It has a rival, however, in the vase in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. Despite the assumptions we find in publications on Australiana motifs, such hand-painted pieces are rare. However his designs were later adapted for transfer prints such as the 'Rose and waratah’ design from the turn of the century. They will be found to be the commonest examples of Bilton’s decorative skills in Australia.

Research Curator, Queensland Heritage.

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R.
keithbritten
Joanna Mendelssohn

Date written:

2008

Last updated:

2019