Linnie Watt joined Doulton’s Lambeth studio in 1875 after a fire destroyed Minton’s Art Pottery Studio in London. She specialized in painting Faience plaques featuring idyllic rural scenes. Apparently, she sketched a lot from nature and had the habit of bribing her human subjects to stand still. Unfortunately, they rarely did for more than a minute so she became a very rapid sketcher.

Miss Watt's work was shown at the Philadelphia and Paris Exhibitions and she was a regular prize winner at the annual china painting shows organised by Howell and James in London. She was awarded first prize in 1878 and a silver medal the following year. Miss Watt exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy between 1877 and 1901 and was a member of the Society of Lady Artists from 1874. She also illustrated books, for example Out of Town by F. E. Weatherly, 1884.

John Sparkes, the principal of the Lambeth School of Art, spoke very highly of her: “She has a most distinguished gift for conveying the impression of a picturesque scene with rustic figures, in excellent color, and with artistic breadth of effect, quite admirable in its truth. Her works will speak for themselves to every artist who sees them.”

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