Women and Ceramics – Women as Promoters

In the 18th century women represented a significant proportion of china dealers often combining this with second hand clothes dealing which could be bartered. In the 20th century women were the first gallery owners and promoters of studio ceramics. Particularly notable was Muriel Rose who ran the Little Gallery. Women potters and educationalists were also in the forefront of writing… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Royal College of Art

In the 1970s the cult of virtuoso throwing and kiln technology which dominated the studio pottery movement came into question. The new generation preferred art ideas rather than craft ideals. In this decade the Royal College of Art produced a number of women ceramicists who were also promoted by the newly founded Crafts Council. Glenys Barton worked in slip-cast porcelain… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Decorating

Studio potters often rejected colourful surface pattern because of its commercial connotations. Around 1980 a number of women began to reclaim decoration. Janice Tchalenko led the way and very successfully developed the designs for Dart Pottery. Mary Rose Young, Philomena Pretsell, Morgen Hall and Annabeth Rosen (USA) all use decorative patterns and flower and fruit imagery in provocative and ironic… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Figures

In general the figurine was a much despised form within the studio pottery movement because of its associations with over-refined and aristocratic taste or mass production During the 1920s there was a brief moment when figurative ceramics were popular but it was not until the mid 1980s that there was a significant return to figuration. Women have been particularly successful… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Studio Pottery after 1950

In the post-war period the production of studio pottery in Britain expanded. Pottery was being taught much more widely in art colleges and in schools and the new prosperity created a taste for modern design and distinctive household decoration Women were gaining access to higher education and it was easier to train in ceramics. The huge impact of Bernard Leach… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Early Studio Pottery

Studio pottery in Britain was a product of the early twentieth century. Middle-class art school trained artists began to make pottery undertaking the whole process for themselves. Previously pottery production, especially throwing and firing, had been an artisan activity. For women who took up the craft it broke both class and gender stereotypes. Frances Richards set up her kiln in… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Collecting

Charlotte Schreiber or as she is better known in Wales, Lady Charlotte Guest, was one of the most prolific ceramic collectors of the nineteenth century. Together with her second husband, Charles Schreiber, she acquired pottery and porcelain in Britain and on many tours in continental Europe. In her later years, as a widow, she undertook the task of cataloguing her… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Cyprus

In Cyprus there are still a number of villages which preserve the old traditions of hand-building pottery. In the 19th century it was frequently a family business where men made the huge storage jars which are too large to be made on the wheel, sometimes travelling round to make pots where they were needed, while the women made a wide… Read More

Women and Ceramics – Kabylie, Algeria

In most Berber cultures in North Africa women still make pottery for domestic use and display. The painted decorations and complex forms are part of a wider female visual culture which also includes wall decoration, weaving and distinctive highly colourful female costume and jewellery. This female tradition is quite distinct from the Islamic influences which dominate the urban centres where… Read More