Newsletter Spring/Summer 2014 SODAC COMMITTEE Spring 2014

African Lion candy box designed by Robert Minkin and produced by Wedgwood, 1963 © Wedgwood Museum

SODAC Newsletter Spring/Summer 2014 SODAC COMMITTEE Spring 2014

Chair Secretary

Andrew Renton Caroline Alexander Head of Applied Art Curator of Decorative Arts Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Harris Museum Wales Market Square Cathays Park, Preston, PR1 2PP Cardiff, CF10 3NP Tel: 01772 905411 Tel: 029 2057 3297 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Treasurer Website Officer

Laura Gray Laura Breen Freelance curator Ceramics Research Centre—UK Email: [email protected] University of Westminster Email: [email protected]

Membership Secretary Events Organiser

Rachel Conroy Alyson Pollard Curator of Applied Art Curator of Metalwork and Glass Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Walker Art Gallery Wales Liverpool Museums Cathays Park, 127, Dale Street Cardiff, CF10 3NP Liverpool, L2 2JH Tel: 029 2057 3383 Tel: 0151 478 4263 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Committee Members

Kirsty Hartsiotis Ruth Shrigley Curator of Decorative Arts & Designated Collections Manchester Art Gallery The Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum Clarence Street Jean Vacher Cheltenham, GL50 3JT Crafts Study Centre Tel: 01242 775712

Email: [email protected]

Celebrating gold boxes p. 6

SarcophagusCabinet, 1772,CF6 ©

PlymouthCity (ArtsCouncil Heritage& Service)

The current Treasurer is standing down from their role on the SODAC committee. If you are interested in applying, please first contact the outgoing member for an informal discussion of the responsibilities of the role: Laura Gray [email protected] If you would like to apply, please then send an expres- sion of interest to the Chair, Andrew Renton ([email protected]) by 5pm on Friday 4 May. The committee will make the final selection if more than one person applies for either role. Please do feel free to pass this message on to anybody you think might be a suitable candidate, even if they are not a current member of SODAC. The Newsletter Editor would like to give advance notice that she will be standing down after the Autumn/ Winter 2014 edition of the newsletter. If you are interested in taking this role from November 2014 on- wards, please contact Kirsty Hartsiotis [email protected] for an informal discussion of the role.

Study day at The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford

Wednesday 25th June 2014, 11am—5pm The Higgins Bedford re-opened last year following a £5.8 million transformation of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford Museum and Bedford Gallery. The museum houses fine and decorative art collections of international renown, including a particularly important collection of work by William Burges and other Victorian decorative art from the Handley-Read collection. The redevelopment incorporates state-of-the- art facilities and technology to provide a brand-new visitor experience.

Hosted by Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art, and her colleagues, this study day will begin with a tour of the museum and an exploration of the concepts behind the redeveloped galleries. In the afternoon the focus will be on the decorative art collections specifically and in particular the redisplay of the Burges furniture and the Handley-Read collections. Price: £10 (SODAC members), £20 (non-SODAC members; includes one year’s subscription to the Society)

Numbers for this study day will be limited to 20. To book a place, please reply no later than Friday 30th May to:

Andrew Renton Head of Applied Art Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Cathays Park CF10 3NP Tel: 029 2057 3297 Email: [email protected]

Since the last SODAC newsletter came out, several museums have reopened their doors to the public. In Bedford, the Cecil Higgins Gallery and Bedford Museum have combined to become the Hig- gins, in Cheltenham a new extension designed by Berman Geddes Stretton has more than doubled the display space in the rebrand- ed Wilson, and in Ditchling Adam Richards Architects have created new spaces linking the old museum buildings. Each of these museums have strong decorative arts collections. At the Wilson the designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection has been redisplayed with funding from the Designation Chal- lenge Fund, and The Paper Store gives the Emery Walker Library, the last intact Arts and Crafts library, its first permanent display location alongside archive collections on Cheltenham’s history and local hero Edward Wilson. The Higgins has been redeveloped throughout, and now has an all-new gallery devoted to its William Burges collection, including the newly acquired Zodiac Settle, as well as a new Design Gallery featuring some of Britain’s most important stylistic movements from Rococo to Gothic Revival and Neo-Classical to Arts and Crafts . Ditchling Museum of Art + Ditchling Museum © Ditchling Museum Craft has been redeveloped with an HLF grant and other funding Art + Craft, Adam Richards Architects, to showcase the work of the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, Brotherton/Lock and the artists who lived and worked in the village.

This year’s annual International Commit- tee for Museums and Collections of Dec- orative Art and Design (ICDAD) is Collec- tors and Collections: their role in decorative arts and design museums, taking place 15–17 October 2014 in Graz, Aus- tria, followed by a trip to Ljubljana, Slo- venia on the 18-19 October. ICDAD have out a call for papers for the conference on the theme of the role of private or discrete collections within museums. ICDAD is looking for 20 minute presentations. If you are interested in submitting a paper, please send a 200-300 words abstract, a short biographical note and contact details to Annie Carlano, ICDAD Secretary ([email protected]) by 30 April. Visit www.icom-icdad.com for more details. The Centre for Studies of Home is in is looking for papers for its 24 June 2014 conference Home-work: connections, transitions and the wider world at the Geffyre Museum of the Home, London, on themes that examine the connections between home, work and the wider world from the eighteenth century to the present, focusing on temporality, spatiali- ty and domestic practices in relation to paid and unpaid work. Please submit proposals including title and abstract (200-300 words) by 18 April to Jacqueline Winston-Silk at jwinston-silk@geffrye- museum.org.uk. The programme will be confirmed by early May.

The Attingham Trust is currently offering two bursaries. The first is an At- tingham Trust organised study programme on French Eighteenth-Century Studies, 12—17 October 2014 at The Wallace Collection. Based at Hertford House, but with a day at Waddesdon Manor, this intensive, non-residential study programme aims to foster a deeper knowledge and understanding of French 18th century fine and decorative art and is intended primarily to aid professional development. The course will involve object-based study, han- dling sessions and a look at behind-the-scenes conservation. The course director is Dr Helen Jacobsen, Curator of French 18th century Decorative Arts at the Wallace Collection. The closing date is the 30 April. The Trust is also offering £1000 towards MA’s in History of Art at UEA. The Trust is collaborating with the School of Art History and World Art Studies with a new module, At Close Quarters: The English Country House and its Col- lections, which provides a unique opportunity for the sustained and in-situ study of English country houses and their collections, including a residential week at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, led by Dr Andrew Moore, Director of the Trust’s Summer School. Go to the Attingham Trust website for further details: www.attinghamtrust.org/courses.

Two of the sector’s main funding bodies have recently announced their funding allocations for the current period, 2014- 6. ACE has recently announced the latest round of awards for the Designation Development Fund. Eighteen projects have received a share of £1.4 million, and a third of these have a decorative arts focus. The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galler- ies Improvement Fund has made forty grants, and again there are a significant number of decorative arts projects. Two projects have been awarded funding from both sources: Compton Verney is to redisplay it’s extensive Chinese Collec- tion, remodelling the galleries and creating new interpretative materials to bring it to life and the Ashmolean Museum is to display the rare and highly valuable Welby bequest of silver and Kunstkammer objects. It will also produce a programme Three 16th and 17th century Nautilus shells with of art-historical and metallurgical research of the collection. silver gilt mounts, Welby bequest © Ashmolean The other Designation projects include: Northampton Museum Museum, University of Oxford & Art Gallery’s Virtually All Shoes project to digitised and make available online their collection. Museums Sheffield is upgrading the storage for its 4000 strong cutlery collection, and creating new online and printed resources. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge’s Digital Layers project will create a digital interface that will give visitors access to a range of visual information and text about their collection of illuminated manuscripts. Lastly, the Fashion Museum, Bath will be ex- panding access to and research on two important but lesser known Worth Paquin archive and the Lace & Whitework collection. The Bowes Museum is revitalising its ceramics galleries with funding from the DCMS/Wolfson fund, and Lotherton Hall in Leeds and Manchester Art Gallery are both developing new displays for their costume and textile collections. The V&A is continuing with FuturePlan, with a grant towards its 1600-1800 galleries, due to open later this year.

The Textile Society is offering its annual Museum, Archive and Con- servation Award. The Society offers awards of up to £5000 for a textile related project within the museum, archive or conservation sector. The Award is designed to support textile related projects within a museum, archive, or conservation studio for exhibition, publication or conservation and will help achieve greater awareness and access for the public. The deadline for applications is 2 June 2014. Find out more at www.textilesociety.org.uk/bursaries- awards. Last year’s museum award went to Bexley Heritage Trust for David Evans Remembered, a project to document and digitise an archive of pattern books and printed samples from the David Evans Com- pany, silk printers. David Evans moved to Crayford in Kent in 1825 and took over a small printing factory. The business flourished, and only closed in 2001. The archive includes pattern books and tools from the factory and the award will contribute towards the digitisation of the pattern books and paper printed samples. Con- servation funding went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for a Second World War ensign from HMS Nairana, an escort carrier which saw convoy duty in the Arctic Ocean, to allow the display of the ensign in the Battle of the Atlantic exhibition.

The Leach Pottery and Marty Gross Film Produc- tions, Canada, with funding from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and other funders, will be collaborating to restore and re-release historically important films from the 1930’s to the 1970’s which profile key figures in the history of The Leach Pottery and the Japanese Mingei Movement. Film subjects include Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Soetsu Yanagi, Janet Leach, William Marshall and others. Over the next three years, the project will restore and digitise important and never before seen footage which documents the studies of Ber- nard Leach and his colleagues in Japan as they developed ideas that became central to the Mingei Shigeyoshi Ichino, The Leach Pottery, 1971 © The Movement. The resulting compendium will consist Leach Pottery of DVDs, and an accompanying booklet, and will feature films ranging from Leach’s Trip to Japan, 1934-35 to new interviews on the idea and relevance of mingei today. The project will chart the development of core ideas in the Mingei Movement, and examine its roots in Japanese Buddhist philosophy as well as its presentation in the West. Organisations collaborating in this project include: The Bernard Leach (St Ives) Trust Ltd., the Crafts Study Centre, the Museum of Ceramic Art in New York, and several Japanese organisations, the Japan Tradition- al Cultures Foundation in Tokyo, the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, the Shoji Hamada Mashiko Sansokan Museum, the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and the Japan Foundation.

The Stained Glass Museum has purchased four stained glass panels from the studio of Geoffrey Clarke, RA (b.1924). Clarke was one of the most innovative British artists of the 20th century, working in stained glass, sculpture and printmaking. Among his commissions for stained glass were three of the pioneering modern win- dows at the new Coventry Cathedral built to the designs of Sir Basil Spence in 1957-62. The four stained glass panels were made in the 1940s and 1950s as exhibition or experimental pieces. They demonstrate how Clarke combined stained glass, mosaic and sculptural techniques to produce unique artworks. St Anthony, Saint Sebastian, and Priest (all made in 1949) are all modern abstract compositions inspired by religious devotion and torment. The fourth panel, Fragment (1956- 59), is an innovative three-dimensional panel which reveals Clarke’s interest in abstract sculptural forms.

Geoffrey Clarke, Fragment, 1956-59. These panels were purchased with the assistance of the V&A Pur- Glass, lead, aluminium chase Grant Fund and The Art Fund, The Headley Trust, The Mat- the Wrightson Charitable Trust, The Decorative Arts Society and several individual donors.

The Bowes Museum has acquired a highly important 18th century bronze casket, believed to be the only one of its kind in existence. The hinged rectangular porcelain and gilt coffer was acquired with the support of the Art Fund, the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of The Bowes Museum. It is cleverly made from three different styles of Chi- nese porcelain vases, carefully cut into sections and set into European gilt bronze mounts on a wooden framework. The styles of decoration include plants, flowers and trees, and landscapes. The top is made of a large porcelain dish with a ‘bird on a branch’ mo- tif set inside a circular gilt mount, while inside is a wooden liner. The Museum’s Keeper of Ceramics, Dr Howard Coutts, said: ‘The method of construction is almost unknown at the time, and represents a kind of highly skilled and complex manual technique often reserved for items of ‘Princely Magnificence’, destined for royal treasuries.’ Until his death in 1780, the casket was owned by the Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. From the 19th century the casket was in the collection of the Earls of Lonsdale at Lowther Castle in Cumbria. It left Lowther in 2011, but as it was of ‘outstanding aesthetic importance and outstanding significance for the study of trade in Chinese porcelain in the 18th century and the history of taste in European Courts’ it was subject to an export block, and the Bowes Museum was able to acquire the casket. A special event was held at the Bowes Museum on the 27 February to celebrate the acquisition with Stephen Deuchar, the Di- rector of the Art Fund among the speakers.

Derby Museums have produced a new catalogue to celebrate the end of the five year HLF funded ‘Collecting Cultures’ project. Enlightenment! Derbyshire Setting the Pace in the Eighteenth Century (Derbyshire County Council, 2013) is edited by Ros Westwood and Anna Rhodes. The project was a partnership between Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Derby Museums and Strutt’s North Mill in Belper. From 2008—2013 these three museums purchased over 100 objects for their collections relating to 18th and 19th century Derby- shire. This has included many decorative art items including Derby Porcelain, Ashford Black Marble and worked Blue John. The full colour catalogue contains photographs and information on every purchase as well as articles on subjects such as the Derbyshire Black Marble Trade, Matlock Bath and Tourism and Joseph Wright of Derby. The catalogue costs £9.99 with all proceeds going back into museum acquisition funds. It is available from Buxton Museum, Derby Museums and Strutt’s North Mill and via mail order from [email protected] or call 01629 533540. Find Miniature milk pail made of blue john, out more about the project at enlightenmentderby- 1803 © Buxton Museum & Art Gallery shire.wordpress.com.

The Ratoff collection consists of over one hundred pieces of studio ceramics, varying in purpose from utilitarian to sculptural. They had been acquired over the course of many years by Dr Len and Mrs Pamela Ratoff for their home. Their wish was that the collection should come to National Museums Liverpool, and after the recent death of Mrs Ratoff they were donated via their son, Ivan. The pieces are generally of a very high standard and represent some of the most recognisable names in British pottery, including David Frith, Derek Clarkson, Mick Casson, Julia Carter- Preston, Walter Keeler and the Leach dynasty. A small proportion of the collection will be on display at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, from June. For further information contact:- Ben Jones, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, National Muse- ums Liverpool Telephone: (0151) 478 4265 Email: [email protected]

Small bottle-vase, with crystalline glaze, made by Derek Clarkson, 1993 © the artist

The first time Ruth Shrigley saw Claire Malet’s metalwork, at Collect 2013, she was immediately struck by its beauty and originality and vowed to try to acquire a piece for our collection. Fortunately, with the support of the Contemporary Art Society’s New Story of Craft Scheme and the Friends of Manchester City Galleries, I was able to commission a large version of her Ridged Vessel form. Ridged Vessel is part of Claire’s signature series of non-functional containers entitled Winter Sketch. Claire regards these pieces as abstract sculptures in which she can explore the relationships between external and in- ternal spaces and surfaces. However, they are inspired by the rural landscape surrounding her Herefordshire studio and are highly evoc- ative of natural forms. Most people are surprised when they discover that Malet made Ridged Vessel from a steel oil can, which she cut down and then Claire Malet raised through repeated hammering and annealing. She works the Ridged Ves- metal intuitively, using some of the creases that appear during the sel 2014. Photo © Anthony Evans process to enhance the organic quality of the form. Malet often em- ploys tools designed for other purposes or uses traditional metal- working tools and materials in new ways. Here she used hand tools to texture the surface but then cut the metal freehand with a blowtorch to create the pierced effect. She covered the interior with 23ct gold and copper leaf, then scratched into it, frazzled it with the torch and finally oxidised it to bring out the fiery, autumnal colours. The finished piece is now on display in the exhibition Sculptural Forms: A Centu- ry of Experiment at Manchester Art Gallery until 7 September 2014. Manchester Art Gallery has also acquired a new work by Japanese ceramicist Yasuko Sakurai, with assistance from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and The Art Fund. Sakurai makes unglazed porcelain vessels whose intricate pierced forms cast shadows which become an integral part of the work. This concern for the effects of light on a form is inspired by the famous Zen gravel gardens of Sakurai’s home town of Kyo- to, where raked patterns appear to emerge or dissolve in changing light conditions. Sakurai invented an innovative and painstaking technique to make her work, after studying slip casting at the Limoges factory, in France. She begins each form by slip casting up to 30 porcelain tubes in plaster moulds, allowing them to set until leather hard. She then arranges these pipes in a large con- tainer, trimming them to fit as required, and pours liquid slip around them. The placement of the slip cast tubes is carefully con- sidered as it creates a network of holes in the resulting cast. When the porcelain is sufficiently set, Sakurai carves it, internally and externally, to make a vessel shape. Firing is the riskiest part of the process and one in five pieces fail in the kiln due to discolouration, cracking or warping. Orb will be displayed in the Gallery of Craft & Design at Manches- ter from July 2014 and will feature in a forthcoming exhibition of East Asian craft entitled Eastern Exchanges at Manchester Art Gal- lery from February to May 2015. Ruth Shrigley & Janet Boston Yasuko Sakurai, Orb, 2013. Photo © Manchester City Galleries Senior Curator: Collections Access & Curator: Collections Access

vocated a modern approach to ceramic design. In a 1933 article entitled Pro- gress in Pottery he argued that ‘what we are striving for to-day is the intelligent use of a fine artistic medium’, arguing that ‘British potters … must have the courage of their convictions and belief in the artistic possibilities of their material.’ Modern Art for the Table was just the kind of event that Forsyth and bodies like the Council for Art and Industry had called for in order to ‘improve’ public taste. The project was conceived and led by Thomas Acland Fennemore, Art Director at E Brain & Company (Foley Fig. 1 Cup and saucer with decorated designed by Graham Suther- China), with guidance from Graham land, made by A J Wilkinson, 1934 © Estate of Graham Sutherland Sutherland and the graphic designer, Milner Gray. Artists and designers were The collection at National Museum Cardiff is re- invited to contribute patterns for production in nowned for its strength in historic ceramics – par- bone china by Foley and in earthenware by A J Wil- ticularly Welsh ceramics (see Andrew Renton’s ar- kinson Ltd (the latter being primarily on shapes de- ticle, pg. 17) and Continental porcelain. Recent signed by Clarice Cliff). Designs for glass were made years have seen the collection of contemporary by Stuart & Sons. Twenty eight individuals submit- ceramics and studio pottery considerably im- ted designs including the artists Vanessa Bell, Dun- proved, but our holdings remain weak in examples can Grant, Frank Brangwyn, Barbara Hepworth, Paul of design after 1850. This was brought to the fore Nash and Ben Nicholson, as well as a number al- during the development stages of our gallery of ready involved in the ceramics industry, such as modern design, which opened in 2011. Despite its Forsyth and Freda Beardmore. Each was paid £10 small size, we struggled to adequately represent per design plus the promise of royalties from even- some periods and had to reply on loans to com- tual sales. plement our collections. Since the gallery opened, The collection at Cardiff includes three different we have made modest but regular acquisitions of examples of designs created by Graham Sutherland 20th century factory ceramics as examples of for the project. A cup and saucer in the pattern modern design. Some of the most interesting piec- ‘Pink Panel/Ribbons’ was acquired most recently es originate from a landmark exhibition, Modern (fig. 1). Made by Wilkinson’s, it is decorated with a Art for the Table, held at Harrods in 1934. printed image of a group of flowers over-painted The 1930s saw a flurry of government-backed pro- with a pale pink wash. This contrasts with a graphic grammes to support and improve industrial de- hand-painted border design of parallel black lines sign. A number of British ceramic manufacturers with looping pink and black ribbons. The collection responded to this programme of improvement by also includes examples of the patterns ‘White Rose’ working with leading artists, designers and archi- and ‘Shamrock’ (sometimes referred to as 'Floral' or tects to update their products and attempt to 'Floral Roundel'). reach new markets. Gordon Forsyth – artistic ad- Given Milner Gray’s central role in Modern Art for viser for the Pottery Manufacturers Federation and the Table, we were very pleased to be offered a cup Superintendent at the Burslem School of Art – ad- painting by teams of girls is to be used, then the design will have to be of an impersonal and conven- tional character. In complete stylistic contrast to Gray’s design, the Museum has also added a design by Vanessa Bell to the collection (fig. 3). Named ‘Fitzroy’, it is one of two known patterns created by Bell for the project. Like Bell, a number of artists chose to incorpo- Fig. 2 Cup and saucer with decoration designed by Milner Gray and made by Foley China, 1934, Photo © National Museum Wales rate lustre into their designs, including Paul Nash and Laura Knight (the Museum collection and saucer in the bold 'Convolvulus' pattern as a includes a part coffee set in Knight’s ‘Noah’s Ark’ gift to the collection (fig. 2). Gray trained as a pattern). Equally distinctive is a pair of creamware graphic designer at Goldsmiths' College and re- meat plates purchased recently for the collection in turned there to teach in the 1930s. He was made the ‘Flying Dragons’ pattern, designed by Michael Principal of the Sir John Cass School of Arts and Wellmer (figs. 4, 5). It features abstract dragons that Crafts in 1937. Gray was invited to join the Minis- encircle the rim of the dish while the well fills with try of Information exhibition division during the subtle clouds of grey smoke and is the only known Second World War, where he was involved in high- pattern designed by Wellmer for the project. profile campaigns, including 'Dig for Victory'. Af- Modern Art for the Table was a commercial failure, ter the War, he established the Design Research as most designs were not put into production after- Unit with Misha Black and Herbert Read, was ap- wards, as was the original intention, though it did pointed as Royal Designer for Industry and be- achieve critical success. Design for To-day described came a member of the Council for Industrial De- it as ‘probably the greatest advance in pottery deco- sign. In 1955, Gray became the first recipient of ration this century… It is not to be judged so much the Design Medal for outstanding achievement by the success or failure of particular artists as by from the Society of Industrial Artists. the spirit in which the whole enterprise was con- The critic, Noel Carrington, commenting in the ceived and as part of a very big experiment’. The December 1934 issue of Design for To-Day, noted involvement of many important 20th century artists that Gray's transferred designs were taken from and designers makes the objects created for it ex- engraved copper plates, allowing a clear and strong black line to be produced: I was particularly pleased to see that several artists, Albert Rutherston and Milner Gray amongst them, had adopted the engraving-transfer process either wholly or as a key for hand colouring. For mass production I be- lieve the future must lie with mechanical means of Fig. 3 Cup and saucer designed by Vanessa Bell and made by Foley China, 1934. reproduction. If hand- Photo © National Museum Wales Fig. 4 Plate designed by Michael Wellmer and made by Clarice Cliff, Fig 5 Reverse of plate by Michael 1934. Photo ©National Museum Wales Wellmer. Photo ©National Museum Wales

tremely desirable for museums and collectors alike.

Rachel Conroy Curator of Applied Art Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

References Carrington, N. (1934) ‘Artists and Industry at Har- rods’, Design for To-Day, Vol. 2, No. 20, pp. 461- 464. Forsyth, G. (1933) ‘Progress in Pottery’, Design for To-Day, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 103-105. Newsham, J. (2008) Modern Art for the Table – The 1934 Harrod’s Exhibition (unpublished MA thesis, University of Central Lancashire).

Wall and Robert Minkin. By 1963 both men were ea- ger to influence the direction of the Wedgwood Company. The opportunity to work on this daring product line was too good to miss. Peter Wall joined Wedgwood in 1951 having graduated from the Royal College of Art (RCA). While at the RCA Wall was one of three students who were involved in a project with various Staffordshire ceramics manufacturers to produce patterns inspired by X-ray photographs of crystals. Hall worked in partnership with Wedgwood and produced two patterns for bone china based on the chemical struc- ture of haemoglobin and insulin. His designs were shown at the Exhibition of Science showcase which formed part of the 1951 Festival of Britain. From the beginning Peter Wall’s design work was known for being avant garde while still achieving mass appeal. This combination of abilities led him to become Design Manager and head of Wedgwood’s design studio by 1966. Robert Minkin joined Wedgwood in 1955 and was initially appointed Chief Designer. Like Peter Wall, Robert Minkin was a product of the RCA . Having Fig. 1 Wedgwood Review March 1963 showing Rob- graduated with first-class honours Minkin was ert Minkin’s coffee pot and spice jars awarded a Travelling Scholarship by the RCA. In 1957 he was elected a member of the Society of In- Rewind 51 years to 1963. The then Managing Di- dustrial Artists. During his time at Wedgwood he rector of Wedgwood, Arthur Bryan, gave a paper was appointed Group Designer and in 1979 he be- to the Royal Society of Arts entitled “Pottery To- came Design Director. Robert was consistently inno- day”. The paper explains his belief that the ceram- vative in his approach to creating and refining pat- ics industry should no longer be purely produc- terns, shapes and bodies. tion-dominated but should begin to utilise force- Peter Wall’s and Robert Minkin’s first collaboration ful marketing. He went on to explain that behind resulted in an ornamental range which was unveiled this marketing push should lie products of good design, advanced technical achievement, and that at Wedgwood’s London Show room on Wigmore Street in January 1963. It was the custom to hold an were ahead of their time. Arthur Bryan was advo- exhibition of the years new products at the London cating risk in the sense of anticipating today what Showroom in January. A Design Research Unit had the customer might want tomorrow. Predicting been commissioned by the Wedgwood Company to fashion trends and tastes was something the Wedgwood Company had not really done since standardise the use of typefaces and colours for everything relating to the ware, which was given the the War. It was his belief that the future of Wedg- name design 63. The display itself would prove to wood lay not only in producing the company’s be as innovative as the product range. The Wigmore staple products, which continued to follow time- Street showroom was painted black and included an honoured designs, but also in looking forward to artificial black ceiling, excluding all natural light. the future and creating ware that would stand apart from anything that had come before. The main space was filled with a number of open pyramids made of semi-transparent fibreglass. The Two men who took up the challenge were Peter design 63 range was displayed within golden cas- (fig. 4, pg. 16). The wall plaques are character shaped and depict a medieval king and queen. The complex decoration is built up from underglaze printing in sepia and the addition of green, coraline, blue, brown, orange and gold enamels. Peter Wall is noted as saying he was deliberately looking for non- round giftware when designing the wall plaques. This attitude encapsulates the design 63 range. Originality became a byword for the range, but there were subtle elements brought in from the Compa- ny’s heritage that came through in certain pieces.

Fig. 2 Black basalt smoker’s accessories by Robert The African Lion candy box consists of a 17th cen- Minkin and produced by Wedgwood tury Thomas Bewick engraving of a lion printed in black on an immaculate gold background (newsletter cover). As with the black basalt smok- kets round the walls and lit by spotlights. ing accessories, the African Lion candy box fuses The design 63 range was an experiment in using heritage with ultra-modernism. The use of old tech- traditional bodies such as bone china and black niques in the form of the lathe and the use of 17th basalt to create unconventional shapes, textures century engravings, applied using the new silk- and decoration. The black basalt wares were in a screen printing technique, showcased the fusion of series of new, cutting edge shapes (fig. 1). Robert old and new, producing something uniquely con- Minkin’s simple cylindrical coffee pot, decorated temporary. in gold with image of 11th century knight, proved to be a massive hit. The shape and decoration may have been simple but that simplicity combined with the stark matt black of the black basalt and the gold meant it was a departure from previous Wedgwood shapes. Similarly, the set of black basalt herb and spice jars represented a bold new take on the traditional body. There were a number of smoking related wares produced as part of the design 63 range and some of these represent the best examples of the innovative shapes and patterns created. The black basalt cigarette holder, lighter, covered cigarette jar and ash-tray (fig. 2) have bands of beading, produced by a turning lathe, around the circumference of their shapes and are finished with a single band of gold. The design 63 black basalt range consisted of pieces such as a nut bowl, fruit bowl, vases with white relief decoration and salt and pepper pots. In addition to the in-house designs by Minkin and Wall, Italian sculptor Angelo Biancini produced a sculp- tured candleholder which was recreated in black basalt and shown at the 1963 exhibition (fig. 3). The bone china and earthenware pieces were as striking as the black basalt. My personal favour- ites from the entire design 63 range are the King Fig. 3 Candlesticks designed by Angelo and Queen wall plaques designed by Peter Wall Biancini and produced by Wedgwood dream up the designs of the future. In 1967 the Design for Today range expanded on the precedent set by design 63 and solidified Wedgwood’s reputation for being at the forefront of contemporary ceramic design.

Ben Miller Museum Assistant Wedgwood Museum

Fig. 4 Queen and King plaques Queen’s ware, designed by Peter Wall and produced by Wedgwood

Arthur Bryan’s words again seem fitting in regards to the success of design 63. The design 63 range was never intended to be mass-produced and was

therefore never going to make much of a positive impact on the Company’s finances, but the designs continued to have an impact. In the years that followed a clear influence could be seen in the design ethos at Wedgwood. In 1965 the company’s revolu-

tionary oven-to-table ware demonstrated both the scientific as well as design achievements helping to set Wedgwood apart from the competition throughout the 1960s. A year later in 1966 a new design

studio, known as the ‘Roundhouse’, opened on the

Barlaston site which housed the Wedgwood design team including both Wall and Minkin. The new building was a clear indication that Wedgwood was taking its role as a pioneer of ceramic design seri-

ously. The separation of the design studio from the rest of the factory was intentional and all in aid of providing designers such as Robert Minkin and Pe-

ter Wall with a state of the art space in which to All images copyright Wedgwood Museum and the South Wales Pottery that operated with a brief hia- tus in 1875-77 from 1840 to 1922. In 2014 we also mark the two- hundredth anniversary of Welsh porcelain manufacture. Between 1814 and 1825 some of the most beautiful porcelain ever made in Britain was manufactured at the Swansea China Works, on the site of the Cambrian Pottery, and in the tiny factory at Nantgarw just Fig. 1 Two Swansea porcelain dessert plates painted by Thomas Baxter: (left) north of Cardiff. from the ‘Garden Scenery’ service painted for Lewis Weston Dillwyn, 1816- 1817; (right) with shells possibly from Dillwyn’s own collection, 1816-1818 When William Coles, a Quaker entrepreneur from Gloucester- shire, founded his Swansea Pot In the middle of the 18th century the Burgesses of -House on the banks of the River Tawe in 1764, he Swansea faced a dilemma. On the one hand, the had chosen an ideal site. Ships bringing white ball town’s maritime and industrial economy was flour- clay and flint from the West of England could un- ishing; it would soon overtake Bristol as the most load directly into the pottery, while coal to fire the important port of the Severn estuary and was rap- kilns was cheap and readily available. By 1800 visi- idly developing into the world’s leading copper- tors to the Pottery, which was promoted as a tour- smelting centre. On the other hand, the noxious ist destination, regularly described it as ‘on Mr atmosphere generated by copper smelting and oth- Wedgwood’s plan’, and it clear that from the start it er industries seriously undermined Swansea’s at- not only emulated fashionable Staffordshire ceram- tempts to take advantage of its beautiful seaside ic types like creamware and pearlware, but also fol- setting and to promote itself as a genteel resort for lowed the mass-production principles pioneered by the well-heeled. It was with some relief, then, that Josiah Wedgwood at his Etruria factory. the Burgesses were able in 1764 to assign the lease of the old Copper Works on the Strand to William The heyday of the Swansea Pottery was initiated in Coles, stipulating that he pull down the copper 1789 when the Philadelphia businessman George works and replace them with new buildings ‘as nec- Haynes took it over in partnership with one of essary for the carrying on a Stone Ware or Earthen Coles’s sons. Rebranding it the Cambrian Pottery Ware manufactory’ or ‘any other work or manufac- and investing heavily in new equipment, buildings tory except a copper or lead smelting house.’ and skilled workers, Haynes seems to have redi- rected the Pottery towards the north American mar- Two hundred and fifty years later, the Welsh ce- ket. Among the new workers he brought to Swansea ramics factories are all long gone, the last of them – was the Derby porcelain painter Thomas Pardoe, the South Wales Pottery in Llanelli – having closed who was to be a key character in the story of Welsh in 1922. In the intervening period, the Swansea Pot- pottery and porcelain and is described more fully tery had evolved into the Cambrian Pottery, below. From 1802 the factory was run by Lewis reached a high point of achievement between 1790 Weston Dillwyn, in partnership with George Haynes and 1820, and then declined to closure in 1870. until 1810 and with Timothy and John Bevington Other smaller potteries came and went too, most from 1811. Dillwyn and Co continued to expand, notably the Glamorgan Pottery, neighbour and rival selling its wares through dealers in London, Bristol of the Cambrian Pottery between 1813 and 1838, and Ireland. Cambrian Pottery. In 1815 and 1816 experiments were made to strengthen Billingsley’s porcelain without losing its whiteness and translucency, and a range of bone ash and soapstone bodies were produced. These never proved commercially viable but the best of them, a mixed body similar to bone china but mixed with blue clay or lime and commonly known as ‘duck egg’ from its greenish tinge, proved popular with London china dealers like Mortlock’s of Ox- ford Street. The Swansea factory made mainly tea wares, dessert services and small ornamental objects. Much of this was in the fashionable French Empire style and decorated to a very high standard, occasionally by Billingsley himself but mostly by the talented painters that he trained, such as David Evans and William Pollard. Decoration was also done by the leading ceramic artist Thomas Baxter, Fig. 2 Swansea Pottery creamware tea canister in- in Swansea from 1816 to 1818, and by London’s scribed ‘alcy Davies / August ye 21st 1774’ top enamelling workshops. While porcelain production and decoration contin- The improved quality of its products enabled the ued at Swansea until late 1825, in 1817 Dillwyn Cambrian Pottery to compete with leading Stafford- transferred the lease of the Cambrian Pottery to his shire firms like Wedgwood. Transfer-printed wares partners and Billingsley and Walker returned to were always the staple product but Dillwyn also Nantgarw. Here, in partnership with William Weston had ambitions to create high-quality products that Young and supported financially by local landown- would appeal to the sophisticated London market. ers and industrialists, they managed to manufac- Between 1806 and 1808, the Pottery had its own ture porcelain until the business failed again in London warehouse and showrooms, the Cambrian 1820 and Billingsley and Walker left to work at Company, where lavishly hand-painted pottery could be viewed and bought alongside ornamental, tea and dinner wares in patterns, shapes and pottery bodies made fashionable by Wedgwood. Pride of place was given to Dillwyn’s own newly-invented ‘Chameleon lustre’, which did not prove a commercial success – it was ‘dull of sale’ as Haynes wryly observed. Late in 1813 William Billingsley, once the chief flower painter at the Derby porcelain factory, and his partner Samuel Walker set up a small porcelain works at Nantgarw near Cardiff. In 1814 production started of Billingsley’s own beautifully white and translucent soft-paste porcelain. Billingsley hoped it would rival and surpass the famous porcelain of Sèvres in France, but its glassy character made it difficult to work and ninety per cent was lost during firing. Dillwyn, however, was also hoping to make porcelain and when he heard about Billings- Fig. 3 Cambrian Pottery pearlware jug painted by ley’s enterprise he agreed with Billingsley and Walk- Thomas Pardoe with a view of the Hall, Caerphilly er that they should try to make porcelain at the Castle, about 1805 Coalport in Shropshire. Almost everything they made was sent to London to be painted and gilded, and to be sold to royalty, aristocracy and other wealthy customers. After 1820, William Weston Young tried to recoup his losses by decorating the large stock of undecorated porcelain for sale locally. He painted some pieces himself but the vast ma- jority was decorated in a wide range of styles by Thomas Pardoe from 1821 until his death in 1823. In 1824, Lewis Weston Dillwyn resumed control of the Cambrian Pottery and its fortunes revived. An improved earthenware body was introduced, as were new printed patterns and, in the late 1840s, imitations of ancient Greek pottery called ‘Dillwyn’s Etruscan Ware’. However, in 1850 Dillwyn’s son sublet the factory and decline set in. After trading first as Evans and Glasson then as D J Evans & Co, the Pottery closed in 1870. Meanwhile, other potteries had been established in South Wales. In 1813 a rival pottery was built next door to the Cambrian Pottery by William Baker, the son-in-law of George Haynes, Dillwyn’s former partner with whom he had fallen out. Known as the Gla- morgan Pottery and trading as Baker, Bevans and Irwin, its main product was blue and black transfer- printed earthenware. It was bought by the Dillwyns Fig. 4 English pearlware jug decorated in Bristol by in 1838 and closed down. Thomas Pardoe, 1809-1812 In 1839 the South Wales Pottery was established in Llanelli by William Chambers. By 1854 it was pro- Thomas Pardoe (1770-1823) ducing 24,000 pieces a week, mostly transfer- printed earthenware. In 1871 it took over the Thomas Pardoe was born in Derby in 1770 and in Ynysmeudwy Pottery near Swansea (founded in 1785 or 1786 apprenticed at the Derby porcelain 1845) and so became the only significant commer- factory, where he got to know William Billingsley. cial pottery left in South Wales. In the early 20th He was one of the skilled artisans brought to the century the Pottery also made hand-painted earth- Cambrian Pottery by George Haynes after he took enware similar to the Fife Pottery’s Wemyss Ware. over in 1789. Pardoe seems quickly to have estab- This was not enough to prevent the closure of the lished himself as the pottery’s chief painter and, company in 1922 and with it the end of commercial between 1802 and 1804, as its acting manager. In pottery manufacture in South Wales. 1797 he married the daughter of a local colliery owner and banker and, having been widowed, mar- Nowadays the tradition of ceramics production in ried again in 1802. He was known for his geniality, Wales is continued by a flourishing community of wit and humour and was much in demand at social ceramic artists. The ceramics department at Cardiff gatherings. School of Art and Design is a global leader in its field, while artists of the calibre of Walter Keeler, Pardoe’s work at the Cambrian Pottery can be readi- Michael Flynn and Claire Curneen have well- ly identified on the basis of his later documented deserved international reputations. work at Bristol, by his distinctive script, and by ref- erence to the various sketchbooks that have sur-

vived. Pardoe was an extremely versatile artist and his style has an immediacy and liveliness that ap-

branched out into the painting of window glass for churches and private houses, instructing respectable women in the art of painting china and velvet, and – to judge from the self- portrait in Amgueddfa Cym- ru’s collection – oil painting. In 1821 Pardoe returned to Wales, to work for his friend William Weston Young decorating the remaining stock of Nantgarw porcelain. As a friend of Young and an ac- quaintance of Billingsley, Pardoe is likely to have had some involvement in the choice of Nantgarw as a site Fig. 5 Nantgarw porcelain milk jug painted by Thomas Pardoe, 1821-1823 for the china works. He spent the last two years of his life, until his death at Nantgarw in peals to modern taste. He is perhaps best known July 1823, enamelling at a furious pace but often to for his botanical decoration on pearlware, but he very high standards, as another recent Amgueddfa painted birds and animals, flowers and fruit, shells Cymru acquisition demonstrates. This unusual jug and armorials, figures and East Asian styles with is painted on each side with a charming scene fea- equal aplomb. As a jug painted with a view of Caer- turing women selling fruit and flowers, children philly Castle and recently acquired by Amgueddfa and an old man, and a soldier in uniform (fig. 5). Cymru – National Museum Wales shows, he was Pardoe was under pressure to paint quickly so that also a confident topographical and landscape artist decorated wares could be sold at a modest premi- (Fig. 3, pg. 15). um at auction sales arranged by Young in 1821 and In 1809 Pardoe left the Cambrian Pottery to estab- 1822. Some of the results have a charming naivety lish his own business in Bristol. His first Bristol ad- but also illustrate the artist’s considerable range. dress was ‘under the Bank’, where he may have tak- He did, however, also work on special commissions, en over the premises of John Eaves, a china enamel- such as services for Young’s own nephew and the ler previously at the same address. Amgueddfa industrialist Wyndham Lewis, which show that even Cymru has recently acquired a jug decorated by in his last years Pardoe’s talents remained undimin- Pardoe for a customer in Worle, Somerset, which is ished. the only object so far recorded that documents this first Bristol address. By 1812 he had moved his res- idence and shop to 28 Bath Street, one of the grander Bristol streets of the period. Andrew Renton In Bristol Pardoe decorated pottery and porcelain Head of Applied Art, bought in from Coalport and Staffordshire. Helpful- Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales ly he often inscribed his work with his own name, the date and the name of the customer (fig. 4).

Complementing his customers in Bristol and Bath, he also earned commissions from Welsh people, such as William Lewes of Duffryn House near Am- manford and Sir Richard Philipps of Picton Castle, All images © National Museum of Wales

1st Baron Milford of the Irish peerage. Pardoe also Funded by the Arts Council's Designation Develop- ment Fund, Plymouth's Cottonian collection has undergone a project to research and conserve the ten items of furniture within the collection. Much overshadowed in the past by the collection's outstanding art components—comprising oil paintings, Old Master and English drawings, watercol- ours, sculpture, a library, Reynolds material and around seven thousand prints—this project enabled a deeper look at the furniture, so often viewed as purely serving the functional needs of the rest of the collection. The project involved conservation of each item of furniture by the team at Tankerdale Ltd (specialists in the conservation of furniture and historic wood- work, based in Hampshire) whose reports revealed more about the construction of the work. Furniture historian Dr Adam Bowett also researched the collection and associated archives. This article is an overview of some of the project’s most exciting dis- coveries and is based on the reports by Tankerdale and Dr Bowett's research. The Cottonian collection was amassed over sevral centuries by a series of owners who passed the Fig. 1 Antwerp cabinet, c. 1670, CF5 bulk of the collection down, variously adding to the host of prints, drawings and manuscripts and tak- originator of the Cottonian Collection. He had inter- ing away as taste and funding permitted. In 1852, it national connections and traded throughout Eu- was formerly gifted ‘for the purposes of amuse- rope and to the Americas. From 1669, he became ment and instruction by the inhabitants of the Chief Clerk of the London Customs House and it Towns of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport was likely that the comings and goings he saw in and their vicinity’, and opened to the public at the this post sparked his interest in forming a collec- Plymouth Proprietary Library the following year. In tion. It was this international link that would also 1915/6 it was transferred to the Plymouth Corpora- influence the materials used in the future of the tion by an Act of Parliament and is now on perma- Cottonian furniture. nent display in the Museum & Art Gallery. The oldest surviving piece of furniture in the col- The furniture in the collection grew partly out of lection, the 'Antwerp Cabinet' dates to c.1670 (fig. necessity; as the number of prints and volumes 1) and may have belonged to Robert Townson or grew, so did the desire to commission suitable fur- his son and 2nd owner of the collection, William niture to house them. In their choice of furniture Townson (1682-1740). We know that it certainly and associated materials, we learn more about the belonged to William’s friend Charles Rogers—the owners of the collection (in particular Charles Rog- third owner of the collection and successor to the ers), about their tastes and about the particular way post of Chief Clerk at the Customs House. In July in which they wanted to house and present their 1770, Rogers paid the cabinet-maker Robert Tuson artworks. £3 8s to alter the cabinet, fitting its drawers with Robert Townson (1640-1707), was the founder and small trays to house his collection of medals. Each of Lane, London and more bookcases followed to ac- the commodate his rapidly growing collection. It was in 1757 that Rogers commissioned the first of several amboina-wood bookcases (fig. 4). This wood came from the island of Ambon in the Dutch spice is- lands (now Indonesia) and was both rare and ex- pensive. In fact, the bookcases in the Cottonian collection are the earliest documented examples of English furniture employing this wood. Many subse- quent purchases of amboina furniture indicate that Rogers had a particular liking for this wood. In- deed, as well as bookcases and cabinets, accounts reveal that Rogers commissioned tables and picture frames veneered with amboina, but these, sadly, do not survive. Conservation to the collections’ largest bookcase revealed that it was in fact originally three separate bookcases. The centre bays are veneered on their outside faces indicating that they were originally the external faces. It is likely that the two outer groups were commissioned as a pair to flank the original central cabinet, supported by the fact that the outside veneers on their lower doors form a Fig. 2 Antwerp cabinet, c. 1670, CF5 (detail) mirror image of each other. Remarkable for their earliest documented employ- ment of amboina wood, these bookcases become eight original short drawers had a ‘lid’ fitted and more interesting still for their unusual and possibly it’s back sawn off. This allowed for the insertion of unique combination of exotic wood veneers on the smaller drawers within, removable only from the inside. Rogers' eye as a collector of prints, manu- back. Most of the drawers have their highly colour- scripts and medals also encompassed Natural His- ful ‘sugar bag’ paper lining still intact (fig. 2). This tory with a collection of shells and marble. This sense of theatricality in not only the care of his col- now extended not just to amboina but also to many lection but also in its presentation, was something other exotic woods which were valued both for to be replicated again in Rogers' later acquisitions. their beauty and for their scientific interest. Likely Rogers was a lively and outgoing person with very through contact in his role at the Customs House, discerning taste: he was both a Fellow of the Socie- Rogers began to buy specimens from all over the ty of Antiquaries (1752) and of the Royal Society world. (1757). Rogers’ London house had a separate apart- These specimens were purchased at a similar time ment for the display of his collection and also pro- vided a meeting place for his friends - artists, engravers and other collectors such as Charles Town- 9 Jan 1755 22 July 1755 24 Nov 1757 ley, Robert Strange and Angelica Kauffman as well Various Woods To Capt King for Vaneers of Wood as Sir Joshua Reynolds who painted Rogers’ por- £ 3 5 0 a Log of Yellow £ 2 19 0 trait in 1777. To Mr Thos Wood Brazil Wood Prints and drawings were Rogers’ real passion (his £ 1 3 6 account books for 1737-1782 show that he pur- the Cabinet Mak- chased more than 20,000) but he also added books, er for Work manuscripts, bronzes and ceramics to the collec- £ 15 18 5 tion. He began to commission furniture from as Fig. 3 Roger’s account book early as 1741 for his house in Laurence Pountney Fig. 4 Amboina bookcase, 1757, CF1

to the commissioning of the large bookcase and if ers combined his now established interest in exotic so, indicate that it was Rogers and not the cabinet woods with the Neo-Classical fashions of the time. maker who specified which woods he wanted to A ‘sarcophagus’ cabinet standing on lion’s paws use. We can also conjecture then that he had a was ordered from Robert Tuson in 1772. This style hand in the design and exact inlay of these veneers. echoed many of Robert Adam's furniture designs Rogers' account book records various purchases. (Contents page, fig. 6). Made primarily of mahoga- (fig. 3). ny, the sarcophagus is partly veneered with South Dr Bowett's research identifies a number of woods American amarillo wood. Now a darker brown, ama- in the cabinet doors including West Indian satin- rillo was canary yellow when fresh and so the front wood, Olive, Machineel, African Blackwood, Barber- of this sarcophagus would have been bright yellow ry and Snakewood (fig. 5). The exotic combination with wavy flutes of rich red mahogany set off by jet of woods set into geometric patterns would all have black ebony mouldings. added to the sense of wonder in the presentation of Much like the brightly coloured lining of the altered the collection; taking the viewer on a journey of Antwerp cabinet drawers or the lavishly veneered discovery. interiors of the large bookcase doors, the sarcopha- We can well imagine Rogers sweeping open the gus too reveals Rogers' taste. A man who commis- doors of his cabinet with great relish; the theatri- sioned practical furniture to host a growing con- cality and colourfulness of the cabinet alone would noisseur's collection, he seemingly could not pass be enough to draw breath, to impress knowledgea- up the opportunity to also commission elaborately - ble friends and to prepare privileged visitors for out of showmanship to impress visitors and to give the further delights of the collection that were to them a taste of what could be seen inside so lavish be found within. a piece of furniture. Another piece of furniture ordered by Charles Rog- The sarcophagus quickly grew unsuitable for its

task and three years after its original commission, Fig. 5 Amboina bookcase, CF1 (Interior details)

Rogers paid Tucson £0-17-0 to carve a mahogany this project, the furniture can once again be dis- lion's tail for the centre of the piece - to help sup- played and regarded as works of art in their own port the weight of the growing manuscript collec- right. tion inside of it. A more in-depth guide to the furniture collection The furniture, like the rest of the collection, moved has been published as part of the project. To re- locations with successive owners. After Charles quest a hard copy, please send postal details to ali- Rogers' death in 1784, William Cotton I (1731-91) [email protected]. More information inherited the collection and it passed to his son about the collection can be found online http:// William Cotton II (1759-1816) who moved it to Bal- www.plymouth.gov.uk/cottoniancollection where a ham Hill House in 1796. Here, a new library was digital copy of the guide will shortly be available. designed to accommodate the collection and particularly the large bookcases. It was perhaps here that Alison Cooper the configuration of the three cases into one large bookcase as it stands today was conceived, as Cot- Curator (Decorative Art) ton remembers in his Reminiscences (edited by K S Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery Hamilton Edwards, p.10): ‘The new library, which formed the east wing of the garden front, was 25 feet in length .... Cabinets of Amboina wood, with plate glass, extended from one end of the room to All images © Plymouth City Council (Arts & Herit- the other on the south side.’ age Service) Whilst some items were sold on from the Cottonian collection and others, such as Rogers' amboina picture frames, lost, the large amboina cabinets became central fixtures despite their size, moving again in 1824 when William Cotton III (1794-1863) re- located the collection to The Priory at Leatherhead in Surrey. After the collection was gifted to the City of Plymouth, it became known more for its prints and drawings than the associated furniture and indeed, the pieces were largely regarded for their practical ap- plication of housing the collection. With the work carried out during Fig. 6 Sarcophagus cabinet, 1772 (top) Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia is the catalogue of in this review I will be reading the catalogue with the exhibition of the same name at the Sainsbury a bias towards the decorative art pieces of all pe- Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East An- riods. glia in Norwich. The exhibition celebrates ‘the rich The selection of objects has a wide remit, ranging and diverse culture and artistic heritage of East An- from items produced in the area, by artists who glia’ as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniver- are from or lived in the area, and also items col- sary of the founding of UEA, and the remodelling of lected in East Anglia. This approach allows a the building itself, Norman Foster’s first commission greater selection of art- back in 1964. The catalogue works than would have is edited by Ian Collins, the been possible if the selec- exhibitions curator, who has tors had concentrated on links with Suffolk and Nor- East Anglian makers and folk and is a writer on East artists, and allows them to Anglian art. The catalogue acknowledge the im- entries are in the most part portance of the regions by the lending organisations. great collectors, up to and I didn’t get the chance to go including Robert and Lisa to the exhibition, but am de- Sainsbury who started the lighted to be able to review collection now in the the catalogue. I have lived in Sainsbury Centre. both Suffolk and Norfolk, The book is beautifully and consider myself an East produced, and Collins’ Anglian despite having lived introduction gives an away for many years. East overview of the history Anglia often feels a forgotten and importance of a re- region: living in the South gion that is often over- West as I do, when I say I’m looked today as rural and from Suffolk, most people conservative in outlook— look blank and say they a common enough occur- haven’t been there. To me, rence in our current urban then, a celebration is in or- King John Cup, c. 1325, silver, enamel, precious -oriented world. It seems der. stones; height: 38.8 cm. Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Photo © Pete at times an homage to the The exhibition takes an open Huggins BBC/British Museum His- and multidisciplinary ap- tory of the World in 100 proach to art, including both fine and decorative art, Objects concept. This isn’t a criticism. It is rather and also some of the fantastic archaeological finds that the concept seems an endlessly reusable and from the area. I was sad to see that there was noth- useful idea that brings out what museums do ing in the exhibition from Sutton Hoo, arguably East best: telling stories through objects. The cata- Anglia’s most impressive – and important – archaeo- logue itself has many contributors, as each object logical discovery, but the find is explored and illus- or group has a catalogue entry by a relevant ex- trated in the catalogue. Many of the objects are pert. As you’d expect many of the entries are by from either the Sainsbury Centre or Norfolk’s Muse- the lenders, but not always. For Sudbury silk ums and Archaeological Service, but the exhibition weavers Stephen Walters & Sons, the designer clocks up an impressive list of loans both from pri- Margaret Howell, who also lives in Suffolk, tells vate and public lenders. Although the catalogue the 300 year story of the company. This gives a treats everything with equal weight as an art object, fresh voice to the entry by introducing her own they walked, Happisburgh beach, and made their object from the land. But the handaxe perhaps also ushers in something that has been striven for in decorative art long before William Mor- ris made it a maxim: an object that is both useful and beautiful. This theme continues right through into the modern period with the inclusion of Dyson Vacu- um Cleaner (Exploded) from the late 1990s—Dyson was born in Cromer. As an early medievalist in my training, I was a bit disappointed that this period, arguably when East Anglia had the Fig. 2 Tea set, 1770-1775, Lowestoft Porcelain, porcelain © Norfolk greatest prominence, is rather un- Museums & Archaeology Service, Norwich Castle Museum & Art derrepresented in the catalogue – and Gallery thus more so in the exhibition which wouldn’t have had the benefit of the in- personal experience. Although most of the entries troduction images. But otherwise the broad sweep are very informative, I’d have liked to have seen of time is steady and despite the ‘decline’ in East more like Howell’s alongside the dispassionate cu- Anglia’s fortunes after the fall of the wool industry ratorial voice of most of the entries. in the 17th century the bias is towards the 18th– What is East Anglia? As the exhibition and cata- 21st centuries. Collins draws attention to some of logue have taken a very broad sweep of time from the key treasures along the way. However, there the very first human settlers in the region through seems a noticeable imbalance in the objects from to the present day, it is not surprising, though the two counties. The exhibition was put on in slightly disappointing, that the catalogue discusses Norfolk, celebrating a Norwich institution, so it is the narrowest definition of the region: Norfolk and no surprise that Norfolk pieces predominate—and Suffolk. Parts of Cambridgeshire have been part of no surprise as well as Norwich was once the second the region since the time of Queen Athelthryth in city in England—but in the catalogue this is a the 7th century. However, this definition of the shame, as it seems to suggest that Suffolk is of sec- area joins the two closest counties, which Collins ondary significance. Would it not have been possi- characterises by their outward facing relationship ble to feature a Suffolk stately home, for example, with continental Europe. rather than the concentration on Holkham and The 250 or so objects in the catalogue date from Houghton Halls, and hangings from Oxburgh? Alt- 700,000 BC (a flint axe) to 2009 (designs for hough, within fine art the balance is made: two of stained glass for Norwich Cathedral by John England’s greatest fine artists, Gainsborough and McLean) The handaxe is a recent find from the Constable, are both Suffolk boys! Happisburgh area, and is one of the most beautiful It is encouraging to see, though, that some of the illustrations in a book full of stunning images. treasures are still to be seen in the region after the Collins describes it as ‘a masterly piece of design’ exhibition is finished. Pieces like the King John cup and is paired by him with seeming irrelevance with (fig. 1) and the Reade salt, spectacular pieces of a small carving by Henry Moore. Although Moore late medieval and early modern metalwork are still was inspired by prehistoric art, his rounded piece to be seen in Kings Lynn and Norwich. The intro- is a sophisticated and knowing figurine, whereas duction, particularly when addressing the pre- it’s likely that the handaxe was a practical and use- Reformation period, gives a keen sense of our for- ful item. But when you go to the section on tunateness to have the pieces discussed given the Moore’s piece you discover the synchronicity. Both religious extremism that hit the country as a whole, the unknown maker of the handaxe and Moore and East Anglia with particular fervour, in the 16th took a piece of stone from the ground on which and 17th centuries—and, it could be argued, the back to when she studied with Cedric Morris in Layham at the East Anglian School for Painting and Drawing. Hambling is represented by a seascape that reflects her passion for the region. The catalogue doesn’t concentrate on the contemporary makers in the region. The inclusion of Wen- dy Renshaw’s dramatic jewellery seems slightly to- kenistic. The focus does hone in towards the end to the more traditional forms of fine art, painting and sculpture. James Dyson and Lotus Cars give a nod to the world of design, but there is a sense that the latter part of the book is more conservative in outlook than the earlier, more eclectic selection of items. Elisabeth Fritsch stands out in contrast to these as a major figure in contemporary craft who got her first opportunity in the form of free lodging at Gestingthorpe Hall near Sudbury which gave her the breathing space to work out her artistic vision and sense of direction that the maker still appreci- ates. The interconnectedness of the local art scene Fig. 3 Quantam Pocket, 1984 by Elizabeth Fritsch (b. is flagged up by the fact that it was Jack Pritchard 1940). Stoneware, painted with slip © Elizabeth of Isokon’s sister-in-law who offered the lodgings. Fritsch Pritchard himself settled in Blythburgh. Are all these items masterpieces? It is a bold, as- likelihood of bombing during World War Two as sertive title for an exhibition and book. Seen sin- well: there were thirty two airfields in Suffolk gly, and considering which works by particular art- alone. The catalogue flags up technical and artistic ists have been chosen, the assertion might not be innovation amongst the treasures. Lowestoft’s soft correct. The bias towards fine art in the later chap- -paste porcelain (fig. 2), Norwich shawls pioneering ters also gives a skewed view of what is happening industrial process and copying Asian designs, the in the area. However, as a whole, and as a celebra- genesis of the idea for off the peg shoes that local tion of an entire region taking into account its his- legend says was dreamed up by Norwich shoemak- tories and personalities, it is a success, and shows er James Smith in 1792—his company became the that Norfolk and Suffolk have a great deal to shout still flourishing Start-rite—the consortium of Nor- about. It would be wonderful to see this followed wich goldsmiths who were powerful enough to up with a recognition of the vibrant contemporary hold the crown jewels to ransom as part of their art and craft scenes in the region that are hinted at agreement to finance Henry V’s wars in France. in the book, showing that the landscape of East An- From the late 19th century, there has been a tradi- glia with its big skies, wild coast and gentle, fertile tion of artists and makers coming into the area for land continues to be an inspiration for artists and inspiration from the landscape and the relative qui- makers for years to come. et and rural nature of the area. In decorative arts, the delightful animals made by Fabergé pieces made for Queen Alexandra are featured: but not her Home Arts and Industries Association school also on the Sandringham Estate. Opportunities for artists have increased in recent years, though are not without trials: Maggi Hambling’s controversial and, to me, beautiful sculpture on Aldeburgh beach Kirsty Hartsiotis a case in point: an artist giving back to the Suffolk Curator of Decorative Arts communities that initially nourished her art going The Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum On my list for a while has been a visit to the British Ceramics Bien- nial at Stoke-on-Trent but until recently having been fully occu- pied as a Collections Manager I never seemed to fit it in. I went this year for the first time and it was a very rewarding and inspiring experience; really there is no ex- cuse for not going no matter how busy the day job. I took the opportunity to go to the symposium that is Fig. 1 After Death of the Bear 2 by Phoebe Cummings © British Ceramics Biennial part of the event so I 2013 could combine seeing the Biennial with hearing from some of Britain more drawn in to it after hearing her engaging talk leading potters. about the project, her personal enthusiasm for the The Biennial is held on the former Spode factory imperfect and the difficulties she had in trying to site. The factory floor is also the exhibition area persuade the perfectionist potters at Steelite to and there is a lot to see from the Fresh show make pots with defects. Lawrence Epps huge pile of (showing the work by ceramic graduates from UK bricks showing extruded figures trapped in their Higher Education programmes) to the Biennial workplace stood out (figs 2, 3). This pavilion, for commissions; this year including work from Phoe- Ibstock bricks, worked on many different levels. It be Cummings and Clare Twomey. Phoebe Cum- was a piece about the nature of work, an explora- mings life size installation inspired by the Spode tion of a particular clay process that perfectly tableware pattern Death of the Bear in raw clay matched the message, and a work about the rela- (kept in condition in its walk-through plastic struc- tionship with its audience. He encouraged visitors ture) was a masterful exploration of skill, labour, to take a brick away commenting that he was trade and the exotic (fig. 1). Claire Twomey’s set of ‘giving’ but also encouraging visitors ‘to take’, giant Chinese vases, including one made and gild- which somehow made the taker feel just very ed at Royal Crown Derby, playing on notions of slightly uncomfortable. There was a whole other value and skill were impressive. I admired the rig- story to be told here about what happens when our with which she had worked and how she had- once the work is taken away to a different environ- n’t given in to a need to visit China to see the piec- ment. Simeon Featherstone’s more cerebral tiled es being made. She spoke about her thinking on pavilion inspired by the architecture and the pur- ‘distributed authorship’ as part of the symposium. pose of Stoke’s original Wedgwood Memorial Insti- tute struck a chord. There is a renewed interest in I loved the Pavilions inspired by Venice – new last these 19th and 20th century places of learning and year. Corinne Felgate working with Steelite Inter- creativity and in what they might mean for us liv- national celebrated imperfection showing a series ing now. of imperfect pots. This worked well but I felt much Fig. 2 Ibstock Brick Pavilion by Lawrence Epps © British Ceramics Biennial 2013

For the first time this year some of the rest of the lunch area next door for those attending. Spode buildings had been opened up with explora- I would definitely go to the Ceramics Biennial again tions from Bergen Academy into the heart of the but give myself more time, to my shame I didn’t old site in a project called Topographies of the Ob- manage to see the Award exhibition shown at the solete. This included Work Study by Sabine Popp Potteries Museum. who forensically mapped the abandoned office Helen Brown spaces of the old factory. Neil Brownsword also presented poignant works here; the abandoned un- Freelance Curator and Museum Consultant ion canteen in its mock-Tudor setting and the emp- ty display cases of the Director’s prestige shown room our attention drawn to the subtleties of their faded cloth, ghosts of where the factories high-end products had once been displayed (although maybe all too familiar for museum curators). His National Treasures, which featured skilled ceramicists painting plates, behind glass, as he put it ‘on display like caged animals’, was a witty and, for the viewer, uncomfortable, take on the decline of the ceramic industry. It was good to hear from those at Bergen who had been involved in the Topographies project in the symposium. The speakers for the symposium were well chosen. I had heard it might be dusty and cold and so was well prepared: the lecture room is a area carved out of the vast space of the main factory so it is indeed dusty and cold but that didn’t see to matter in this Fig. 2 Ibstock Brick Pavilion (hand detail) by Lawrence re-energised space and there was a great coffee/ Epps © British Ceramics Biennial 2013 World-renowned knitwear and textile designer Kaffe Fassett returns to the American Museum in Britain in 2014 not only to celebrate his fifty years of working as an artist and col- ourist, but also his fifty-year-long association with the American Museum. When he came to live in Britain in the early 1960s, Kaffe stayed in Bath and was much inspired by the Museum’s diverse collections – especially its many antique quilts. Kaffe was fascinated not only by the block patterns created in these textile masterworks, but also by their audacious use of juxtaposed colours and printed fabrics. Complementing the show will be pen drawings that Kaffe made of the American Museum’s popular Period Rooms in 1964, which have never been on public display before, and illustrate the designer’s long association with the Museum. The new exhibition The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett, Suzani by Kaffe Fassett, needlepoint. Courte- on until 2 November, showcases how Kaffe lives by his max- sy of Hugh Ehrman © Kaffe Fassett Studio im to ‘find colour in a grey world’. Designed by the celebrated theatrical designer Johan Engels, the exhibition promises to be as colourful as the dazzling pieces on display. Over one hundred sumptuous works of textile art – a kaleidoscope of knitwear, needlepoint, beading, and quilts – will be on show in this dramatic exhibition alongside vibrant mosaics and still-life paintings by Fassett. Find our more about the exhibition at ameri- canmuseum.org.

In collaboration with the Goldsmiths’ Company of the City of London, Belton House near Grantham in Lin- colnshire is hosting an exhibition of the work of contemporary silversmith Angela Cork, as part of the house’s theme for 2014, Belton by Design. Curated by Goldsmiths’ Curator, Rosemary Ransome Wallis, a selection of Angela’s works will be on display at Bel- ton House until the end of October. In addition, throughout the summer months on most Saturdays, Angela will be at Belton demonstrating her craft and creating a silver beaker, the design of which is in- Balloon vases by Angela Cork, silver © Goldsmith’s Company spired by the lotus form of the early 19th century bal- usters of the Great Staircase at Belton. During August The Silver Trust is lending its considerable collection of contemporary table wares for display at Belton alongside Angela’s exhibition. The Silver Trust, which is a charity, was formed in 1992 to supply contemporary plate for display and use in the dining room at 10 Downing Street. The idea originally came from Lady Thatcher as she discovered whilst in office that there was little display or useful plate at 10, Downing Street, and she borrowed a collection of 18th century silver from Edward, 7th Lord Brownlow at Belton House. Angela will be speaking at Belton with Rosemary Ransome Wallis about the collection of the Goldsmiths’ Company on Friday 20 June and with James Rothwell, Curator of Silver for the National Trust about aspects of her work on Friday 26 September. Further information on the exhibition is available from Belton House at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/belton-house or on 01476 566116. Hatch, Match and Despatch (Part II) is still running at the Fan Museum until 1 June, showing fans from the 17th to the 20th century that commemorate birth, marriage and death. Opening on the 3 June is Se- duced! Fans & the Art of Advertising. The exhibition reveals how commercial art—a dynamic, seductive art form—emerged during the late 19th century to play a pivotal role in generating and sustaining a culture of consumption among the growing middle classes. Focusing on the interwar period and the aesthetics of Art Deco, the exhibition in- Advertising fan for Möet & Chandon by A Lopez, c. 1930 © The cludes a colourful array of fans made to Fan Museum promote leisure activities such as travel, dining and shopping. Luxury brands are equally well represented with fans advertising champagne, perfume and haute-couture. Many of the fans feature designs by masters of commercial art including Georges Barber, Leonetto Cappiello and René Gruau. These fans evoke a remarkable age of decadence, exoticism and the birth of modern consumer culture.

Perth Museum & Art Gallery’s new exhibition Dazzle: a Glossary of Glass, which opened on 4 March, will bring together some of the best examples of locally made artisan glass including works from the Monart, Vasart, Strathearn and Caithness studios as well as contemporary Scottish art glass pieces. It will celebrate Perth’s glass tradition, with the addition of some examples of the Museum's rarely seen collection of historic Venetian glass, which demonstrate how locally- produced glass sits within the context of Eu- ropean art glass.

Glass bowl, 1929, designed and made by Monart Glass of The exhibition will also feature, for the first Perth © Perth Museum & Art Gallery time, a small selection of Caithness Glass from the recent donation of the Graham Coo- ley Collection - an important and extensive private collection of over 300 pieces, generously gifted to Perth Museum & Art Gallery. The collection comprises works from all the company's principal designers and represents the most comprehensive gathering of Caithness Glass now in public ownership. Mr Cooley said: ‘It gives me great pleasure that Caithness Glass and their designers and engravers will get the kind of public exposure they richly deserve through Dazzle—this is a fantastic opportunity for their work to really shine. I was absolutely delighted to gift my collection to Perth Museum & Art Gallery - it seems very fitting to do so, as it brings these pieces back to their rightful place.’ The V&A will this spring and summer present two very different views of the world. Running until 13 July is William Kent: Designing Geor- gian Britain, showcasing over 200 objects including architectural drawings for such prominent buildings as the Treasury and Horse Guards at Whitehall, designs for landscape gardens, sculpture, furniture, silver as well as paintings and illustrated books. It will celebrate Kent’s art over four decades (1709-48) when Britain defined itself as a new nation and developed a new Italian-inspired style. The exhibition will show the breadth and ingenuity of the Kentian style, ranging from spectacular gilt furniture to vivid interiors such as Houghton Hall, Chiswick House and his landscape gardens at Rousham, Holkham Hall and elsewhere. Opening 26 July is a very different show, Disobedient Objects, the first exhibition to explore objects of art and design, from Suffragette teapots of the Zapatista Revolution, The Zapatista, Mexico. Photo © Victo- to protest robots, from around the world that have been created by ria and Albert Musem, London grassroots social movements as tools of social change. It will demonstrate how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design. Disobedient Objects will focus on the period from 1980 to the present, a time that has brought new technologies and political challenges. On display will be arts of rebellion from around the world that illuminate the role of making in grassroots movements for social change: finely woven banners; defaced currency; changing designs for barricades and blockades; political videogames; an inflatable general assembly to facilitate consensus decision- making; experimental activist-bicycles; and textiles bearing witness to political murders.

Some of the UK’s newest and most exciting contemporary textiles, glass and ceramics are brought together in Craft Now, a new exhibition opening on 31 May at the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. Makers included are Michael Brennand Wood, inter- nationally regarded as one of the most innovative and inspiring artists working in textiles; Felicity Aylieff, whose ceramic work is informed by an artist’s residency in Jingdezhen, China, the world- wide centre for porcelain production; and influential quilt artist Pauline Burbridge.

Family Feast by Barnaby Barford © the artist Displayed together for the first time, this exhibition presents works purchased for the gallery using funding from the Northern Rock Foundation, with support from the Esmee Fairburn Foundation. Jeweller Nora Fok is represented with Million Dollar Collar, created entirely from the seed heads of arti- chokes. The accompanying Artichoke Parachute magnifies and recreates the seed heads using nylon. Art- ist Paul Scott’s Gateshead in a Box was commissioned for the Shipley Art Gallery in 2010, consisting of individually printed tiles representing Gateshead’s past, present and future, many of which are based on the artist’s work with school pupils and members of the Gateshead community. Also on show will be Family Feast by Barnaby Barford who works primarily with found ceramics, manipulating both mass- manufactured and antique figurines to create acerbic narratives about contemporary society.