Anthony Tomson

His name was Anthony Reginald Tomson, known as “Reg” in the paint room at Royal Worcester, where he began working in the early 1960s. His skillful hand and keen eye provided the incredible detail for many of the horses and bulls designed by Doris Lindner and other sculptors. This Royal Worcester Welsh Mountain Pony stallion is a fine example of Anthony’s painting style, which seems to bring the subject to life and captures the spirit of the animal.

Royal Worcester Welsh Mountain Pony Limited Edition, number 285/500. He was made in 1965. Photo courtesy of Sharron Dunning.

Connoisseur of Malvern

Anthony teamed up with Terry and Diane Lewis and took over Connoisseur of Malvern Studio of England. Along with being one of the three directors of the company, he also was the head painter. Their pieces display the initials of those who had a hand in creating them. Malvern, England was also the location of Boehm, another company creating bone china animal and floral figurines.

Detailed and realistic Cyclamen.
Cyclamen designed by Diane Lewis. Note the letters A and T together, representing AnthonyTomson’s initials, as the decorator or painter.
A page from the Connoisseur of Malvern catalog, speaking with great pride of the company’s artists and craftsmen.
The detail on this Kodiak is incredible.
The initials of painter Anthony Tomson appear on this Kodiak bear.
This fierce fellow stands 20.5″ tall.
This photo was taken February 28, 1983. It shows Anthony Tomson awarding a field mouse china sculpture to a lady and gentleman.
Harvest Mice, #40 of a limited edition of 250 pieces. It is unknown if all pieces in the edition were produced.
Lorraine Atkinson worked for Anthony at Connoisseur of Malvern. Her style closely resembles his attention to detail and realism.
LA is Lorraine’s signature. It is now seen on pieces by her current employer, Donna Chaney/Animal Artistry.
This amazing “Silver Mane” unicorn plaque was designed by Anthony and produced by Mark Farmer. It measures 15″ tall.
This close up view of the head shows the artistry of Anthony.
The pitchfork was Mark Farmer’s signature mark, and the letters A and T combined were Anthony’s. These wonderful images were originally featured on The Connoisseur of Malvern Archive website, at https://connoisseurarchive.com/2016/02/02/silver-mane-unicorn-plaque-by-connoisseur-of-malvern/

Earthworks Horses, early 2000s

An artist of Anthony’s talent has many opportunities for employment. He served as head of painting at Windmill studio in Worcestershire. During this period, he also teamed up with mold maker Mark Farmer and participated in a few different enterprises. These included Earthworks (with Mark’s wife Helen Farmer and sculptor David Mayer) and Alchemy (producing horses for UK artist Donna Chaney of Animal Artistry and others) . Most of the horses painted by Anthony during this period display the little “pine tree” symbol, which consists of his initials with the letter T inside of the letter A.

Earthworks Friesian in custom color.
Earthworks Percheron foal in custom color.
Earthworks Shetland Pony.

Alchemy Horses, late 1990s, early 2000s

“Endemoniada” bucking Mustang sculpted by Judy Renee Pope. The running horse is the Quarter Horse mare sculpted by Donna Chaney, Animal Artistry.
European Warmblood Stallion sculpted by Donna Chaney, with a custom mane and tail.
Standing Arabian mare sculpted by Donna Chaney with custom mane and tail.
The Mustang’s base is not marked, but the paint style is identical to the Quarter Horse mare (base shown here with initials), so it seems that both were painted by Anthony.

Many of the horses produced by Alchemy were miniature-sized (around 3″ tall). This massive Clydesdale stallion stands 10″ tall and is part of a limited run of 50 by Donna Chaney. It was available in roan or bay as a standard color, but this handsome gray with a textured-fur appearance is a custom color.

Horsing Around

Mark Farmer, Alchemy ceramics,  also produced horses for Horsing Around, owned by MAC (Mark) and Vanessa Crawley. In Vanessa’s own words, “Anthony was always so well dressed and a complete gentleman.  I loved just sitting with him, watching him paint and talking. He also worked many years for Royal Worcester as one of their top painters. I can’t remember exact date of when he died but it was I think around 2005.”

Meridian, sculpted by Tina Lamport.
Van Gogh, sculpted by Tina Lamport.
Horsing Around offers an adorable Shetland Pony head as a pin. This one was decorated by Anthony.

Horsing Around renamed the china production side of their company to “The Horse Gallery” and began working with another producer, eventually parting with Mark Farmer. Anthony continued as a decorator with them until his death.

Biendecado by Lynn Fraley, offered in 4 regular run colors for the 4 seasons, plus some custom colors, including this palomino filly.
Facial detail on Biendecado.
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