McLaren Pottery

As you may know, I have a great interest in mid century design .  McLaren Pottery has been making these very stylish animals since the 1950/60s and they remain in production by Mrs McLaren today.

Gus McLaren was born in 1923 and he was an Australian artist, animator and potter.  He began potting in 1955, his wife, Betty, assisting with the slip casting and decorating of the pieces.  Gus went on to creating one offs, sculptures and abstract stone ware.
A bit of trivia: Gus created  the "Freddo Frog" character for MacRobertson chocolates in 1962 and this is a creature well known to Australian chocolate lovers.
Gus died in 2008 but Betty continues to create McLaren animals now at her studio in Merimbula in southern NSW.
I am lucky enough to have one of the horses, one of the cats and the King and Queen.  They are a gorgeous addition to my mid century collection. Check out the McLaren Pottery website. The drawings are a result of using ink and a stick on sheets of statistics or map directory.