From Open Country to Altamira and the Origins of Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery
Australian studio pottery is full of interconnected stories, but few are as closely woven into one artistic family as that of Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd Beck.
Their story connects the pioneering pottery of Merric Boyd at Open Country, the extraordinary Boyd artistic dynasty, and the establishment of the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery at Murrumbeena.
For The McCorry Collection, this history has particular meaning. Our collection already includes works associated with several branches of the Boyd story, including Merric Boyd, Martin Boyd pottery and other artists connected with the remarkable creative community that developed around Murrumbeena. The addition of signed pottery by both Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd Beck allows us to document another important strand in that lineage.
What makes their story especially interesting is that Hatton Beck’s association with the Boyds began well before he married into the family.
Merric Boyd and Open Country
The modern Australian studio-pottery story surrounding the Boyd family begins with William Merric Boyd (1888–1959).
In 1913, Merric established himself at the Boyd family property known as Open Country, at Murrumbeena in Melbourne. There he developed a pottery studio and kiln and became one of the pioneering figures in Australian art pottery. Glen Eira describes Merric as establishing Australia’s first studio pottery at Open Country. Glen Eira City Council
Open Country was much more than a house and workshop. Merric and his wife, artist and poet Doris Gough Boyd, raised their five children there: Lucy, Arthur, Guy, David and Mary Boyd. Painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, literature and music were part of daily family life, and Open Country gradually became a meeting place for a much wider circle of artists.
It was into this environment that Hatton Beck entered.
Hatton Beck before his marriage to Lucy Boyd
Henry Hatton Beck was born in Cassilis, New South Wales, in 1901. He developed considerable technical knowledge of ceramics and became both a practising potter and, later, an influential teacher. The National Gallery of Victoria records him as an Australian ceramic artist whose career extended well into the later twentieth century. National Gallery of Victoria
Hatton’s connection with Merric Boyd developed during the 1920s.
This is a particularly important part of the story because their relationship was not created by Hatton’s eventual marriage to Lucy. He was already professionally and personally connected with Merric and his pottery practice.
In 1926, disaster struck Open Country when Merric Boyd’s pottery was destroyed by fire. Glen Eira records the fire as a major event in Merric’s career. Glen Eira City Council
While Merric’s own pottery was being rebuilt, he needed somewhere to fire his work.
Hatton Beck had a pottery and kiln at Oakleigh, and Merric used Hatton’s kiln to fire his ceramics until his own pottery was reconstructed approximately a year later. The surviving Beck family history specifically records that Merric fired his work at Hatton’s Oakleigh studio following the 1926 fire. lucyboydbeck.website
That detail is significant.
It shows that Hatton was not simply an occasional visitor to Open Country. He was already sufficiently established as a potter to provide Merric Boyd — one of Australia’s leading ceramic pioneers — with working kiln facilities when Merric’s own workshop had been lost.
During the 1930s, Hatton’s association with Merric became even closer. He worked with Merric at Open Country and also gained broader commercial pottery experience, including employment with Cooper & Cook and Fowler’s, where he reportedly became head of the art department. lucyboydbeck.website
The NGV likewise records Hatton as having assisted Merric in the Open Country studio before his marriage to Lucy. National Gallery of Victoria
Lucy Boyd: growing up inside Australia’s great artistic dynasty
Lucy Boyd Beck (1916–2009) was the eldest daughter of Merric and Doris Boyd.
Unlike an artist who encountered pottery later in life, Lucy grew up surrounded by it.
Clay, wheels, kilns, glazes and painted decoration were part of the environment at Open Country. She was surrounded not only by her father’s ceramics but by the broader artistic culture of the Boyd family.
Lucy also worked artistically with her father. Glen Eira records a 1935 earthenware work, House amongst trees, with Merric Boyd listed as potter and Lucy Boyd Beck as decorator — evidence that Lucy was already participating in ceramic production several years before her marriage. Glen Eira City Council
That is important when considering Lucy’s later work.
She was not simply “Hatton Beck’s wife who decorated pottery”. She belonged to the Boyd artistic tradition in her own right and developed a long career encompassing ceramics, ceramic painting, drawing and painting.
Lucy Boyd and Hatton Beck marry
In 1939, Lucy Boyd married Hatton Beck at Open Country.
By this stage Hatton had already known and worked with Merric for years. The marriage therefore united two people who were already part of the same pottery world rather than introducing an outsider into the Boyd family. Glen Eira City Council
The connection is one of the most interesting intersections in Australian ceramic history:
Merric Boyd → Hatton Beck → Lucy Boyd Beck → Arthur Boyd and the AMB Pottery.
Each stage overlaps with the next.
Altamira Pottery, Murrumbeena
In 1939 Hatton and Lucy established their own pottery, generally known as Altamira Pottery, in a former butcher’s shop at approximately 500 Neerim Road, Murrumbeena.
Hatton borrowed some equipment from Merric and established the pottery with Lucy nearby. Glen Eira records that the workshop produced functional domestic ceramics and was situated only a short distance from Open Country. Glen Eira City Council
This was not a glamorous artist’s studio in the modern sense. It was a working pottery producing useful wares — including jugs and other domestic ceramics.
That practical foundation would become extremely important.
The pottery, kiln, equipment and established working space created by Hatton and Lucy provided the physical basis from which another famous chapter of Australian pottery would emerge.
From Altamira to Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery
In 1944, Hatton and Lucy sold the pottery business and equipment to three young men closely connected with the Boyd circle:
Arthur Boyd, Lucy’s younger brother;
John Perceval, artist and later Lucy’s brother-in-law through his marriage to Mary Boyd; and
Peter Herbst, artist, philosopher and university academic.
Glen Eira records the purchase price as £200. Glen Eira City Council
The pottery was renamed the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery, commonly abbreviated to AMB Pottery.
The National Gallery of Victoria identifies Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Peter Herbst as the founders of AMB after taking over Hatton Beck’s Altamira premises in Neerim Road. National Gallery of Victoria
For historical accuracy, it is therefore better not to say that Lucy and Hatton themselves founded AMB Pottery.
Rather:
Lucy Boyd Beck and Hatton Beck established the pottery operation, premises and equipment from which Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Peter Herbst subsequently created the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery.
That distinction makes their contribution no less important.
In many ways, the Becks provided the physical and technical bridge between Merric Boyd’s Open Country pottery and the next generation of Boyd-associated ceramics.
The development of AMB Pottery
At first, AMB concentrated on practical domestic pottery. Wartime shortages created demand for locally produced household ceramics, and producing utilitarian ware also allowed the business to operate within wartime regulations.
As restrictions eased, the pottery became increasingly experimental.
Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and the artists around them began producing the highly individual earthenware for which AMB became famous: jugs, plates, bowls, coffee services, decanters, tiles and sculptural ceramics decorated with animals, figures, angels, landscapes and Australian flora and fauna.
It became one of Australia’s most distinctive post-war potteries. Glen Eira City Council
Later, Neil Douglas became another important figure in the pottery. When Peter Herbst left the partnership in 1950 to pursue his academic career, Douglas took his place. The wider AMB circle ultimately included artists and decorators such as Yvonne Boyd, Mary Perceval, Charles Blackman, Carl Cooper and many others. National Gallery of Victoria
This is why Hatton and Lucy’s story belongs naturally within the broader Boyd Dynasty history rather than being treated as an isolated pottery biography.
Brisbane and a new chapter
After the Second World War the Becks’ lives moved away from Murrumbeena for a time.
In 1947, Hatton secured a teaching position at Brisbane Central Technical College, and Hatton, Lucy and their family moved to Queensland.
They remained there for approximately thirteen years. Hatton’s position as a teacher helped transmit his considerable practical knowledge of clay, firing and glaze chemistry to another generation of Australian potters. Ceramicist David Smith, for example, is documented as studying under Hatton Beck at Brisbane Central Technical College in the early 1950s. DAAO
During these years Hatton continued developing his own pottery and ceramic pictures, experimenting extensively with glaze colour and texture. Lucy likewise continued drawing and developing her artistic practice. lucyboydbeck.website
Returning to Open Country
Merric Boyd died in 1959, followed by Doris Boyd in 1960.
Lucy and Hatton returned to Murrumbeena and once again became custodians, for a short period, of the ceramic tradition at Open Country.
They established a pottery school there, teaching students while also making, exhibiting and selling their own work. Glen Eira records their return and the operation of the school until approximately 1963. Glen Eira City Council
There is something particularly fitting about this part of their history.
More than thirty years after Merric had relied on Hatton Beck’s kiln following the 1926 fire, Hatton and Merric’s daughter Lucy were themselves teaching pottery from the Boyd family’s historic home.
The story had effectively come full circle.
England and later pottery
In the mid-1960s Hatton and Lucy travelled to England.
By 1966, they were working in London, where Hatton was employed at the National Gallery and the family established another pottery at Wandsworth Common. They produced domestic ceramics such as mugs, bowls, plates and lamp bases and continued teaching pottery. Art and Collectors
They returned to Melbourne around 1970 and continued making ceramics.
During their later career Lucy and Hatton often worked collaboratively as well as independently. Hatton remained particularly interested in technical experimentation with glazes and materials, while Lucy became increasingly associated with expressive ceramic paintings and decorated tiles. lucyboydbeck.website
Hatton Beck died in 1994, aged 93. Lucy continued her artistic life until her death in 2009. National Gallery of Victoria
Hatton Beck’s pottery
Hatton’s pottery demonstrates considerable technical curiosity.
His work ranges from functional vessels to ceramic pictures and plaques. Surface and glaze were frequently as important as form.
The Hatton Beck jug held by The McCorry Collection is a particularly expressive example.
Its tall, slightly irregular form is heavily worked, with strongly textured vertical surfaces beneath layered cream, olive, brown and deep red glazes. Rather than hiding the making process, the surface celebrates it. Grooves, ridges and irregularities become part of the visual language of the vessel.
The underside bears an incised Hatton Beck signature, providing an important reference example for identifying his work.
Hatton Beck signature reference
TMC Collection example — Hatton Beck textured jug
Mark: hand-incised Hatton Beck
Because individual studio pottery was hand-made and hand-signed, collectors should expect variation in the handwriting, placement and depth of Hatton Beck’s signatures.
Lucy Boyd Beck’s pottery
Lucy Boyd Beck’s ceramics form another distinctive part of the Boyd story.
Her output included both vessels and decorative ceramic work, and institutional collections contain examples of her work as an individual artist as well as pieces on which Hatton Beck is recorded as potter and Lucy Beck as decorator.
The National Gallery of Victoria, for example, holds collaborative works by the couple, while Glen Eira records casseroles, jugs, vases and ceramic plaques associated with them. Glen Eira City Council
Lucy Boyd Beck blue-green jug
The McCorry Collection’s tall jug carries a dark blue, charcoal and green glaze over a strongly thrown body with a long neck, pronounced pouring lip and loop handle.
Its surface combines visible throwing lines with flowing areas of glaze, giving the piece both movement and considerable depth.
The base is prominently hand-incised Lucy Hatton Beck.
This is particularly useful as a collecting reference because it shows Lucy signing with both the Boyd-Beck family connection and the Beck surname.
Lucy Boyd Beck lidded vessel
Our second Lucy Boyd Beck example is a low, rounded lidded jar or covered vessel with a teal-blue and earthy glaze.
Its broad form, thrown lid and contrasting darker knop make it quite different from the tall jug, allowing the two works to document more than one aspect of Lucy’s ceramic production.
The base again carries a hand-incised Lucy Beck signature, but the handwriting and arrangement differ from the jug.
That variation is precisely why retaining photographs of both signatures is worthwhile.
Signature and mark reference
Hatton Beck
Example 1 – Textured jug
Lucy Boyd Beck
Example 1 – Blue-green jug
Hand-incised Lucy Hatton Beck / Beck signature.
Lucy Boyd Beck
Example 2 – Lidded vessel
A second hand-incised signature demonstrating variation in Lucy’s marking style.
Collector’s note: Signature style alone should never be used as the sole basis for attribution. Form, clay body, glaze, construction, provenance and comparison with documented examples should also be considered.
That last sentence is worth keeping because this page may eventually become a Google reference source for people trying to identify unsigned or questionably signed Beck pottery.
Dating Hatton and Lucy Beck pottery
The glaze, clay body and construction of the examples in The McCorry Collection are consistent with the character of post-war Australian studio pottery, but I would resist assigning an exact year purely from glaze appearance.
That is particularly important with the Becks because their careers extended over several decades and involved periods in Melbourne, Brisbane and London.
Where provenance or dated exhibition records are unavailable, a broader description such as mid-20th-century Australian studio pottery is safer than claiming an exact production year.
Documented museum examples provide useful comparison points. Glen Eira records Hatton and Lucy works from the early 1960s, while the NGV holds a 1964 stoneware jug associated with the couple. Glen Eira City Council
Why Hatton and Lucy Beck matter to collectors
The appeal of their work extends beyond the objects themselves.
Hatton Beck occupies an unusual position in Australian ceramics. He was technically established enough to provide kiln facilities for Merric Boyd after the 1926 Open Country fire; he subsequently worked alongside Merric; married Merric’s daughter; established a pottery with Lucy; and then sold that pottery to the group that created AMB.
Lucy provides the familial continuity.
She was born into Open Country, decorated pottery with her father, married one of the potters working within Merric’s circle, helped establish Altamira, later returned to teach pottery at Open Country, and continued producing ceramics for decades.
Together their careers form a remarkable connection:
Merric Boyd and Open Country
↓
Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd
↓
Altamira Pottery
↓
Arthur Boyd + John Perceval + Peter Herbst
↓
Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery
↓
the broader post-war Murrumbeena school of Australian ceramics
That lineage is one of the principal reasons signed works by Hatton and Lucy Beck deserve greater recognition within Australian studio-pottery collecting.
The Becks within The McCorry Collection
For us, these pieces do something more than add three Australian pottery objects to the collection.
They help join together people whose work we are already documenting.
Our Boyd material encompasses Merric Boyd and the Open Country tradition, the later branches of the Boyd family, Martin Boyd Pottery, and artists and potters who moved through the broader Murrumbeena circle.
The Hatton and Lucy Beck pieces allow us to document the crucial middle part of that story.
The Hatton Beck jug represents the independent potter who was working with Merric before becoming part of the Boyd family.
The Lucy Boyd Beck jug represents Merric’s eldest daughter developing her own ceramic identity.
And the Lucy Boyd Beck lidded jar adds a different vessel form and a second signature reference that can help future collectors and researchers.
As further Beck pieces enter The McCorry Collection, this guide can grow with them.
A significant Australian pottery partnership
It is tempting to view the history of Australian pottery through famous individual names.
The history of Murrumbeena shows something more complicated — and more interesting.
Knowledge, equipment, kilns, workshops and ideas passed continuously between family members, friends, teachers and fellow artists.
Merric Boyd helped establish the tradition.
Hatton Beck became part of that world and, when Merric’s pottery burned, provided the kiln that allowed Merric to continue working.
Lucy Boyd grew up within it.
Hatton and Lucy then established their own pottery.
Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Peter Herbst took over that operation and transformed it into AMB.
Later, Lucy and Hatton returned to Open Country and passed their knowledge to another generation through teaching.
Seen this way, Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd Beck are not a side note to the Boyd story. They are part of the connective tissue that allowed the Murrumbeena pottery tradition to pass from one generation into the next.
That is what makes their pottery historically important — and why signed examples such as those preserved in The McCorry Collection are worth documenting carefully.
Browse Hatton Beck & Lucy Boyd Beck Pottery
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Explore signed pottery and ceramics by Hatton Beck and Lucy Boyd Beck available through The McCorry Collection.
Further Reading
National Gallery of Victoria – Hatton Beck, Lucy Boyd Beck and the Murrumbeena artistic circle