Colin Melbourne was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in 1928.
He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, which he attended from 1949 to 1951.
Shortly after this he was approached by Colonel Wade to set up an experimental studio at the Wade factory.
During his few years at Wade he was responsible for creating some of the rarest and highly prized pieces. Without the budgetary concerns or making the pieces economically viable for production he was able to model without limits.
His most iconic piece created while at Wade was Ivy. Ivy was produced for the 1951 festival of Britain as a statement piece. She certainly created quite a stir with a very mixed reaction.
