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Why I collect pottery
By Mike Perry
My passion is collecting pottery, not just any pottery, but the domestic pottery and porcelain manufactured in the United Kingdom in the 20th Century. What is it about collecting, and about pottery, that has this appeal? This is not intel on the psychology of collecting, fascinating though that might be. Instead I would like to share some reflections of why collecting pottery has enriched my life – and might enrich yours!
It all began with some leadlight window – but that is another story. The collecting came with furnish a house, a house built in the 1930s and with some ‘art deco’ features. Quickly we were hooked and from art deco ornaments grew an interest in art deco pottery and porcelain - unique shapes and even more spectacular decoration, but why, and where did this unique style originate? We learned of the ‘great Exposition’, the now famous Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Art) held in Paris in 1925 to showcase the superiority and richness of French decorative arts. The Exposition’s impact was international and in British ceramics, the impact was first seen in the dramatic teaware shapes and patterns the designer Clarice Cliff applied to the everyday pottery of a nation. But wait, there was more. What about the plate decorated with sinuous stylized floral decoration from the early years of the 20th Century? On investigation it is typical of the art nouveau style that dominated the decorative arts from the mid 1890s to the First World War. And what of these organic forms manufactured in the 1950s only to be replaced by pottery with hard, angular lines in the 1960 and 1970s? Yes, we had discovered that a nation’s pottery, and of course its other decorative arts, follow, and interpret, the heart and soul of a society. So here is why collecting pottery can be such a great occupation. You can -
• Surround yourself with objects of beauty
• Hold in your hand objects that are included in the collections of leading museums. Not reproductions, but the same object that is also held in the industrial design collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum or the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Learn the history of your people. To collect the ceramics of the United Kingdom has been to learn the social history of a nation through a turbulent century.
• Trade with others – buy and sell objects that are affordable for most collectors. I would like to collect vintage cars, but for one car I can buy, hold and sell a hundred, or perhaps a thousand, pieces of pottery. And where would I put the car anyway? So there are the reasons collecting pottery has enriched my life. For you it might be coins or swords, or even milk bottles or barbed wire. Whatever it is, give collecting a go.
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'Moderne' style from the 1930s
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Pottery History
A site devoted to 20th Century UK pottery
www.potteryhistories.com
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Thank you for sharing this information, Mike.
For years, I was in the truck business and collected model trucks.
It's great to show the grandchildren what somethings looked like in the old days and to share the memories.
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes.
Frederick
Hi Mike,
I collect art pottery, mostly from my state. I enjoy art deco pottery, too. Our famous state art potter, George Ohr, now has a museum on the Gulf Coast at Biloxi.
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