Mark Hearld – Hippocampus – York Museums Trust Ceramic Plate – c.2015

Description

A striking ceramic plate designed by the British artist and illustrator Mark Hearld, entitled Hippocampus, produced for York Museums Trust by the Big Tomato Company, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and dating from around 2015.

Measuring 26.2 cm in diameter, the plate carries one of Hearld’s most immediately recognisable combinations of animal imagery, bold pattern and limited colour. Dominating the centre is a large mythical hippocampus or sea-horse, rendered in warm ochre with a horse’s forequarters developing into a dramatically curled, scaled fish tail.

The creature swims within a densely worked marine composition populated by fish and aquatic forms, all set against a muted blue ground. White linear detail gives the design the appearance of a vigorous cut-paper, linocut or printed illustration, while the restricted palette of blue, ochre and cream gives the plate considerable decorative coherence.

Rather than treating the plate merely as tableware, Hearld uses the entire circular surface as a pictorial field. Fish circle the central hippocampus, waves and marine vegetation interlock around the edge, and the repeated forms create a strong sense of movement.

The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures

The plate belongs to the period of Hearld’s major project for York Museums Trust and York Art Gallery, The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures.

Hearld spent approximately two years exploring York Museums Trust’s collections, selecting objects from fine art, natural history and social-history holdings and making new work in response to them. When York Art Gallery reopened following its major redevelopment in August 2015, The Lumber Room formed one of the principal inaugural exhibitions. York Museums Trust records that Hearld created new works specifically in response to objects in its collections.

The exhibition ran at York Art Gallery from 1 August 2015 until 7 May 2017.

An exact example of this Hippocampus plate was catalogued by Tennants in April 2026 as a Mark Hearld ceramic plate made for York Museums Trust and the Big Tomato Company, Stoke-on-Trent, with an exhibition association with The Lumber Room.

The Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a creature from classical mythology combining the forequarters of a horse with the tail of a fish or sea creature. It appears frequently in ancient and later decorative art in association with the sea, and was traditionally imagined drawing the chariots of marine deities.

Hearld reinterprets the creature through his own graphic vocabulary. The strongly outlined body, patterned scales and surrounding fish transform the classical subject into something closer to a piece of folk art or natural-history illustration.

The result is characteristic of Hearld’s ability to combine museum objects, natural history, folklore and vernacular decorative traditions within contemporary design.

York Museums Trust Commission

The reverse carries an integral printed backstamp reading:

Mark Hearld
for YORK
MUSEUMS TRUST
the Big Tomato Co.
Stoke-on-Trent
ENGLAND

This provides direct physical evidence for the designer, commissioning institution and manufacturer.

The York Museums Trust connection is particularly important. The Lumber Room was developed from Hearld’s direct engagement with objects held across the Trust’s collections, rather than being a conventional standalone exhibition of pre-existing work.

Manufacture

The plate was manufactured by the Big Tomato Company of Stoke-on-Trent, placing its production within the historic Staffordshire ceramics industry.

The design is transfer-printed beneath the glaze, allowing Hearld’s intricate linear drawing, broad areas of colour and fine pattern to be reproduced clearly over the curved plate surface.

Condition

Excellent condition overall.

The glaze remains bright and glossy and the blue and ochre decoration retains excellent colour and definition. No chips or cracks. In very nice condition indeed.

Please study the photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the condition description.

Details

Artist / Designer: Mark Hearld
Title: Hippocampus
Date: c.2015
Commissioned for: York Museums Trust
Manufacturer: Big Tomato Company
Place of manufacture: Stoke-on-Trent, England
Material: Glazed ceramic
Decoration: Transfer-printed
Diameter: 26.2 cm
Subject: Mythological hippocampus / sea horse / fish / marine imagery
Exhibition association: The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures, York Art Gallery, 2015–17
Backstamp: Mark Hearld for York Museums Trust / Big Tomato Co. / Stoke-on-Trent / England

Authenticity

The original printed backstamp identifies the plate directly as a Mark Hearld design for York Museums Trust, manufactured by the Big Tomato Company, Stoke-on-Trent.

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