W. R. Midwinter Ltd. was founded in 1910 and expanded steadily despite the set-backs caused by both World Wars. Its designs were quite traditional until the early 1950s. When wartime restrictions began to ease, William Midwinter's son Roy steered production in a more modern direction. He realised that customers, tired of plain utility wares, were excited by the explosion of colour and new design exhibited at the 1951 Festival of Britain. He assembled a group of young designers, some fresh from art college, to create the Midwinter Modern line.

John Russel's 'Riverside' tureen was part of the Modern line. Though the 'Riverside' pattern was naturalistic in comparison with the more stylistic designs of Jessie Tait, Terence Conran and others, it proved a best-seller for over ten years. It features a transfer-printed design of bulrushes, cow parsley, leaves and grasses. One of a group of autumnal-coloured designs collectively issued as 'Midwinter Mink' in 1962, it is in the popular mid-1950s 'Fashion' shape from the Stylecraft range.