Lucie Shorter was born in the Sydney suburb of
Burwood in 1887. She was the eldest of the seven children of John Shorter.
John Shorter Pty Ltd, commonly known as Shorters, was an Australian manufacturers’ importing agency company, best known as the
Australasian agent for the British ceramics firms
Royal Doulton and
Mintons. John Shorter Pty Ltd remained the Doulton agents in Australia until 1979, when Royal Doulton Australia was established. The family and business were, through two generations, major donors to the
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. Her mother was also a gifted artist who had studied under Louis Bilton. Shorter attended
Wesleyan Ladies’ College and studied art at Granville Technical College under
Alfred Coffey. After travelling to England for six months with her father in 1908, she studied at the National Art School,
East Sydney Technical College. She painted ceramics for
Royal Doulton. Her Waratah cup and saucer was part of their first commercially successful Australian design and was used by writer
Miles Franklin who reportedly gave guests turns to use it. The Waratah Cup is held alongside her publication
The Book of the Waratah Cup as part of the collection of the
State Library of New South Wales. Her work is also held in the
National Gallery of Australia, and includes examples from the full waratah dinner set, in addition to numerous drawings. == References ==