A two minute history of studio pottery in the UK

1760s onwards
An astonishing explosion of pottery making in Stoke on Trent in the C18 & C19 created a global industry for mass made ceramics.

1851
The Great Exhibition of 1851 reminded Victorian society about the economic and cultural importance of design and was a window to many other cultures.

The Arts & Craft Movement of the later C19, with William Morris as a central figure, sought a more individual, romantic way of living in which the crafts were important.

A number of small potteries in urban areas produced high quality, fine art ceramics as applied art objects not day to day domestic ware.

1909
Bernard Leach, who trained as a fine artist, visited Japan and made friends with a young group of crafts people who were building a new folk tradition, a bit like the Arts and Crafts Movement. He brought these ideas back to England together with new skills as a potter.

1920
He returned with Shoji Hamada, a talented potter later widely regarded as a genius, and set up a pottery in St Ives, the Cornish town where many fine artists settled during the C19 and early C20.

1920s
A number of artists, inspired by Leach and in many cases trained by him, started to set up small potteries in their own right. Michael Cardew buys a pottery at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire to renew it as the producer of humble, English and Japanese inspired domestic ware.

In London other ceramists such as William Staite Murray, see pottery as a fine art activity (the ‘art of the fire’) and focus on making grand works for sale through galleries. There is a tension between them and the folk oriented potters such as Leach.

1940 and 1950s
In the aftermath of World War II there is an awakening of interest in craft pottery - a number of service men and women retrain as craft people and set up potteries. Leach influenced, Japanese and folk pottery inspired work prevails.

New potters, especially Lucie Rie and Hans Coper (refugees from Austria and Germany respectively) bring new techniques and styles – pure and modern, with few folk references. They are influential in the art schools.

New movements develop elsewhere, particularly in the USA, influenced by expressionist artists, sculptural forms and an American love of nature. Central figures such as Peter Voulkos and Dan Rhodes were closely involved with universities and were inspiring teachers, influencing the teaching of art and design.

late 1960s
Over a shortish period into the early 1970s a small group of art students are inspired by American Pop Art and other movements, and choose to make ceramics that reject the folk traditions. Alison Britton, Carol McNicoll and Richard Slee are amongst them. They were influential on high street design but mostly saw themselves as artists.

through the 80s and 90s
A period of growing diversity. A good number of potters still make work that reflects Oriental, Leach and folk traditions. There are many who draw on contemporary images and forms so ceramics and design are now intertwined in a way not seen even a decade ago. There is a strong group of established and respected ceramists such as Richard Slee and Takeshi Yasuda whose work grows in stature year by year. They are joined by a very large number of younger artists, designers and makers for whom studio pottery is a means of expression not a life time commitment.

The Craft Potters Association is one of the best organised crafts organisations in the country. Its flagship enterprise, Ceramic Review, is a monthly mountain of news, images of contemporarty ceramics and technical knowledge.

Midlands Potters Association is one of a number of regional associations, loosely tied to CPA since they share many members in common. Find out more>

England has a number of fine studio pottery collections, amongst them:

The V&A holds the most significant collection of them all but sadly the ceramics galleries are closed until 2009.

Stoke on Trent Museums celebrates the remarkable industrial history of the area but also has valuable holdings of studio pottery

Birmingham Art Gallery and Museums have a little advertised but significant collection

The newly built Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art gives a major platform to the applied arts where many galleries see them as less important than fine art. The studio pottery is a comprehensive review of C20 & C21 activity.

The Shipley Art Gallery has a spectacular collection of contemporary craft specialising on large scale works.

Lotherton Hall near Leeds has a special collection of early to mid C20 works

Nearer to home, the Usher Gallery in Lincoln has a small but very good collection of early/mid C20 works.

The Crafts Council's collection, that is not on public view although works are regularly loaned to other collections, is iconographic.

Rufford Craft Centre has a modest collection of studio pottery but hasa steady stream of mixed and solo shows by respected contemporary makers.

Have a wander around the 24 Hour Museum for the many other galleries that have studio pottery holdings.