Klytie Pate Pottery
Klytie Pate was one of the most important and distinctive Australian studio potters of the twentieth century. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she produced an extensive body of ceramic work ranging from restrained domestic vessels to highly decorated sculptural forms, pierced pots, plaques, covered jars and richly glazed exhibition pieces.
Her work occupies an important position in the development of Australian studio pottery. Pate combined disciplined technical knowledge with a highly personal decorative vocabulary influenced by classical mythology, Art Deco, Australian flora and fauna, symbolism and the natural world.
Her pottery is now held in major Australian public collections and remains strongly sought after by collectors of Australian ceramics.
Early Life
Klytie Pate was born Clytie Winifred Wingfield Sclater in Melbourne on 20 October 1912.
During her formative years, she lived with her aunt, the artist and printmaker Christian Waller, and Waller’s husband, muralist and artist Napier Waller. Their artistic environment had a profound influence on Pate’s development.
Christian Waller’s interests in symbolism, mythology, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, classical art and printmaking helped shape Pate’s early visual language. The Wallers encouraged her artistic ability and exposed her to a broad range of decorative and fine-art traditions. (Bendigo Tourism)
This relationship is particularly important when interpreting Pate’s early pottery. Her use of stylised figures, mythological subjects, celestial imagery, native animals and complex surface decoration did not emerge in isolation; it developed within one of Melbourne’s most creative interwar artistic households.
Artistic Training
Pate initially studied painting and drawing at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.
She later attended the School of Applied Art at Melbourne Technical College, now RMIT University, where her studies included drawing, modelling and pottery. Her teachers and mentors included figures associated with Melbourne’s emerging applied-arts and ceramic communities.
She also studied modelling under Melbourne sculptor Ola Cohn, best known for the Fairies Tree in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens.
This combination of formal drawing, modelling and ceramic training helps explain the sculptural quality of Pate’s pottery. Even comparatively simple vessels often demonstrate careful control of profile, proportion and surface. (Bendigo Tourism)
Marriage and the Name Klytie Pate
While studying at Melbourne Technical College, she met artist and graphic designer William Pate.
The couple married in 1937, after which she became professionally known as Klytie Pate. They established a weekend cottage named Joliwynds at Montrose, near Mount Dandenong.
The surrounding bushland, birds, native animals and plants became recurring sources of inspiration in her work. Lyrebirds, kangaroos, owls, fish, native flowers and other natural subjects appeared in both incised and modelled decoration. (Bendigo Tourism)
The Development of Klytie Pate’s Pottery
Pate began making ceramics during the 1930s, at a time when studio pottery was still developing as a recognised art form in Australia.
She became part of a pioneering generation of Melbourne ceramic artists who helped establish pottery as an independent artistic discipline rather than simply an industrial or domestic craft.
Her work developed through several broad stylistic phases.
Early work
Pate’s early work often shows strong Art Deco and symbolist influences. These pieces may incorporate:
- stylised human figures
- classical and mythological subjects
- geometric ornament
- Australian birds and animals
- incised decoration
- moulded relief
- plaques and sculptural forms
Her early ceramic and plaster works demonstrate the close connection between her training as a modeller and her later pottery.
Mid-career pottery
As her technical confidence developed, Pate produced an increasingly wide range of vessels, including:
- vases
- jugs
- bowls
- covered jars
- ginger jars
- decanters
- tea sets
- plates
- candleholders
- pierced vessels
- sculptural pots
Her forms could be simple and modernist or elaborately pierced, incised and modelled.
Later work
Pate continued working for decades, refining her glaze palette and surface techniques. Her later pottery often retained the strong craftsmanship and controlled proportions of her earlier work while becoming increasingly sophisticated in colour and glaze interaction.
The Klytie Pate Treasury at Beleura was established as a survey collection illustrating the development of her ceramics across approximately five decades. (beleura.org.au)
Teaching and Influence
Pate taught at Melbourne Technical College and became closely involved in its pottery program.
During the Second World War, she assumed greater responsibility within the pottery school while other staff were absent on military service. She remained connected with the institution until the mid-1940s, after which she was able to concentrate more fully on her own pottery.
Her role as a teacher was significant. She helped transmit ceramic knowledge during an important period in the formation of Melbourne’s studio-pottery community and influenced other potters through both instruction and example. (Wikipedia)
Exhibitions and Public Recognition
Klytie Pate held her first solo pottery exhibition at Kozminsky Gallery in Melbourne in 1941 and continued exhibiting for many decades.
In 1947, works by Pate and fellow potter Alan Lowe became the first examples of modern Australian studio pottery purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria. This was an important institutional acknowledgement of Australian ceramics as a serious artistic discipline.
In 1983, the National Gallery of Victoria presented Klytie Pate Ceramics, a major retrospective documenting work produced between 1932 and 1982. The exhibition recognised her contribution to the early development of Australian studio pottery.
Her career ultimately extended for more than sixty years, and she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her contribution to ceramics. (Bendigo Tourism)
Klytie Pate’s Forms and Decoration
One reason Klytie Pate’s pottery remains so collectible is the remarkable range of her output.
Simple functional forms
Some Pate pieces are relatively restrained, including:
- cylindrical jugs
- milk jugs
- bowls
- bottles
- plates
- domestic vessels
These pieces often rely on proportion, glaze movement and subtle irregularities rather than elaborate applied decoration.
Incised and modelled decoration
More elaborate works may feature:
- deeply incised linework
- pierced or openwork sections
- applied ornament
- modelled animals
- stylised faces
- mythological figures
- celestial motifs
- Australian fauna and flora
- complex geometric borders
Covered jars
Covered jars are among her most recognisable forms. Some have finials, pierced walls, sculptural handles or densely worked decorative surfaces.
Plaques and sculptural ceramics
Pate also created plaques, masks and sculptural works. The National Gallery of Victoria holds examples that demonstrate the breadth of her practice beyond conventional wheel-thrown pottery. (National Gallery of Victoria)
Klytie Pate Glazes
Klytie Pate developed a reputation for experimentation with unusual and richly varied glazes.
Her glaze surfaces can include:
- deep greens
- turquoise
- blue-green
- brown
- amber
- ochre
- purple
- blue
- mottled and layered effects
- contrasting interior and exterior colours
- areas of controlled glaze pooling
- subtle tonal variation
Her glazes were not always intended to appear perfectly even. Colour variation, pooling, pinholing, firing marks and tonal changes can form part of the original ceramic surface rather than indicating later damage.
Collectors should therefore distinguish between:
- original kiln character
- intentional glaze variation
- age-related crazing
- later chips or abrasions
- restoration
- structural cracks
Klytie Pate Pottery Marks and Signatures
Did Klytie Pate use a backstamp?
The term backstamp is more commonly associated with commercial pottery manufacturers that applied printed, impressed or transfer marks in a standardised factory format.
Klytie Pate was a studio potter. Her work is more commonly identified by a hand-incised, scratched, impressed or written signature on the base, rather than a mass-produced factory backstamp.
For that reason, a more accurate heading for the page is:
Klytie Pate Signatures and Pottery Marks
Her signature may vary in:
- size
- depth
- angle
- spacing
- legibility
- position on the base
- whether it was applied before or after glazing
- the amount of glaze covering or filling the lettering
Variations are to be expected with hand-signed studio pottery. A signature should always be considered alongside the form, clay body, glaze, construction and provenance rather than being treated as the sole proof of authenticity.
Auction and collection records frequently describe examples as signed to the base, confirming that base signatures are a recognised identifying characteristic of her work. (Invaluable)
Klytie Pate incised signature
This example bears the name Klytie Pate inscribed by hand across the underside of the vessel. The informal character and variation within the lettering are consistent with a studio-applied signature rather than a standardised commercial backstamp.
The signature is partly affected by the glaze and surface finishing of the base, which is typical of handmade ceramics. Collectors should examine the signature together with the vessel’s clay body, glaze, form and construction.
Another Example of Klytie Pate’s Signature
This example shows another hand-incised Klytie Pate signature on the underside of one of her pottery pieces.
Unlike the previous example, where the signature was partly obscured by glaze, the lettering here remains relatively clear and easy to read. The name Klytie Pate can be identified across the base, although the informal handwritten character of the mark is still evident.
These two examples demonstrate why Klytie Pate signatures can vary in clarity. Some signatures may be partly filled, softened or crossed by glaze, while others remain more clearly visible on the exposed or lightly glazed base.
Collectors should compare the formation of the letters, the placement of the signature and the way the mark relates to the original pottery surface. The signature should also be assessed alongside the vessel’s form, glaze, clay body and construction rather than relied upon as the sole evidence of authenticity.
Important collecting note
A genuine-looking signature does not by itself establish authenticity.
When examining a purported Klytie Pate piece, consider:
- Whether the signature appears integrated with the original surface.
- Whether glaze naturally enters or crosses the incised lettering.
- Whether the form and glaze correspond with recognised examples.
- Whether the clay body and firing characteristics appear appropriate.
- Whether the piece has credible provenance.
- Whether the mark appears newly scratched through an older glaze.
Dating Klytie Pate Pottery
Dating Klytie Pate pottery can be difficult because she worked over such a long period and revisited certain forms, motifs and glaze approaches.
Useful dating evidence can include:
- exhibition labels
- gallery records
- original purchase receipts
- family provenance
- comparison with museum-held examples
- photographs from documented exhibitions
- clay and glaze characteristics
- construction techniques
- stylistic comparison with securely dated works
Museum collections demonstrate that her work ranged from early plaster and ceramic pieces of the 1930s through mature studio pottery produced across the following decades. (National Gallery of Victoria)
How to Identify Klytie Pate Pottery
Collectors should assess the whole object rather than relying on one feature.
Form
Look for controlled proportions, strong profiles and evidence of intentional hand-forming.
Surface
Pate’s work may combine smooth glazed areas with incising, piercing, modelling or textural variation.
Glaze
Her glaze palette is broad, but layered greens, turquoise, blues, browns and complex tonal effects are frequently encountered.
Decoration
Common themes include:
- mythology
- celestial imagery
- animals
- birds
- fish
- native plants
- stylised human figures
- Art Deco-derived geometry
Provenance
Original labels, family history, gallery records and early photographs can substantially strengthen an attribution.
Condition Issues Collectors Should Check
Chips
Pay particular attention to:
- rims
- pouring lips
- finials
- handles
- pierced sections
- projecting ornament
- foot rims
Hairline cracks
Examine both the interior and exterior under strong light. Cracks may be concealed by dark or mottled glazes.
Crazing
Fine crazing may occur naturally in older glazed earthenware. It should be described accurately but does not necessarily indicate structural weakness.
Restoration
Check for:
- colour changes
- overpainting
- unusual gloss
- filled losses
- softened edges
- adhesive residues
- differences under ultraviolet light
Kiln flaws
Pinholes, glaze crawls, firing lines, glaze pooling and small clay inclusions may be original to manufacture. These should not automatically be described as damage.
Interior staining
Functional vessels may show mineral deposits, discolouration or staining from past use.
Why Klytie Pate Pottery Is Collectible
Klytie Pate’s pottery appeals to several collecting markets:
- Australian studio pottery collectors
- collectors of Australian women artists
- Art Deco collectors
- modernist design collectors
- decorative-arts collectors
- collectors of Australian flora and fauna
- museum-quality ceramic collectors
Her reputation is supported by a long exhibition history and representation in major public collections.
The National Gallery of Victoria lists numerous works by Pate, including vases, plaques, covered jars, plates, a tea set, decanters and preparatory drawings. (National Gallery of Victoria)
Her work is also represented in the National Gallery of Australia’s documentation of significant Australian women artists, while Beleura maintains a dedicated Klytie Pate survey collection. (National Gallery of Australia)
Museum and Public Collections
Klytie Pate’s work is represented in significant Australian institutions, including:
- National Gallery of Victoria
- National Gallery of Australia
- Bendigo Art Gallery
- Beleura House and Garden
- other Australian regional and national collections
The National Gallery of Victoria’s holdings are particularly valuable for comparing forms, subjects and documented dates. (Bendigo Tourism)
Klytie Pate’s Legacy
Klytie Pate died in 2010, leaving a body of work that documents more than sixty years of Australian ceramic development.
Her significance lies not only in the beauty of individual pieces but also in her role in establishing studio pottery as a serious artistic practice in Australia.
She successfully brought together:
- formal art training
- ceramic craftsmanship
- glaze experimentation
- modelling and sculpture
- Australian subjects
- Art Deco and symbolist influences
- individual studio production
Her legacy continues through museum collections, exhibitions, scholarship and the ongoing Klytie Pate Ceramics Award, which recognises contemporary ceramic practice in Australia and New Zealand. (National Gallery of Australia)
Browse Klytie Pate Pottery Available for Sale
Explore our current selection of Klytie Pate Australian pottery for sale, including individually researched and carefully described examples from our collection.
Each available piece includes detailed photographs, measurements, condition information and images of relevant signatures, marks or model numbers wherever possible.
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References
Recommended link text:
- Explore Klytie Pate works in the National Gallery of Victoria collection
- Read about Klytie Pate at the National Gallery of Australia
- Discover the Klytie Pate Treasury at Beleura
- Read Bendigo Art Gallery’s account of Klytie Pate’s life and work