Ceramics and the Museum interrogates the relationship between art-oriented ceramic practice and museum practice in Britain since 1970. Laura Breen examines the identity of ceramics as an art form, drawing on examples of work by artist-makers such as Edmund de Waal and Grayson Perry; addresses the impact of policy making on ceramic practice; traces the shift from object to project in ceramic practice and in the evolution of ceramic sculpture; explores how museums facilitated multisensory engagement with ceramic material and process, and analyses the exhibition as a text in itself. Proposing the notion that 'gestures of showing,' such as exhibitions and installation art, can be read as statements, she examines what they tell us about the identity of ceramics at particular moments in time. Highlighting the ways in which these gestures have constructed ceramics as a category of artistic practice, Breen argues that they reveal gaps between narrative and practice, which in turn can be used to deconstruct the art.

An essential guide to low firing and producing natural finishes without using glazes. This book explores the techniques of firing and finishing at low temperature without using glazes or electric kilns. Many ancient cultures and contemporary potters use methods of low firing, adding slips and burnishing pieces to create a more natural finish. As these techniques can be achieved without a kiln, for example using old dustbins, pits dug out of the earth or bonfires, it means that providing you have some outdoor space, the process can be done on a low budget. With many illustrations of beautiful work by contemporary makers for inspiration, this step-by-step guide to low firing and natural finishes is suitable for potters of all levels, including beginners. Get started in no time with practical approaches to burnishing, terra sigillata, smoke-firing, pit-firing, saggar firing and raku techniques.

Shio Kusaka’s ceramic vessels articulate poetic connections, creating a cohesive and unique installation. ---------- “It’s a striking effect—some pieces are bowl-shaped, others are cylindrical, a few have slim, sloping necks. Their linear arrangement suggests some kind of progression through time and space.” — Document Journal ----------- While pulling inspiration and techniques from ancient Japanese ceramics as well as from popular culture and everyday life, Kusaka carves new language into her artwork. Employing various types of clay and firing methods, she experiments with line, color, and size to bring fresh life to the medium. This harmonious presentation is created from individual pieces and thematic groupings, resulting in an extraordinary, unified installation to be experienced in the round. Created in close collaboration with the artist and with many detail images, this book provides a deep dive into Kusaka’s incredible work one light year. Published after Kusaka’s hugely successful exhibition at David Zwirner, New York, in 2022, this catalogue studies her singular installation from all angles. A text by Kusaka illuminates her working process and provides unique insight into this particular work.

Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain traces the development of one of Japan's best-documented ceramic types, from its beginnings around 1600 until the abolition of the domain system in 1871. Using historical records, archaeological material from early kilns and consumer sites, and the results of comparative chemical analysis, this study explores the operation of Takatori as the official ceramic workshop of the Kuroda, lords of one of the largest domains in Japan. Spanning cultural, aesthetic, economic and practical aspects, this book presents Takatori ware as an ideal archetype with which to compare developments in elite ceramics in other parts of Japan throughout the Edo period. In addition to its scholarly examination of the operation of a domain-sponsored ceramics workshop over more than 250 years, the book includes illustrations of examples from each of the seven Takatori workshop locations, including beautiful pieces that have never before appeared in print.

Stunning to look at and exciting to make, stained glass work is perennially popular. Discover the rich and versatile craft of stained glass with this complete beginner's guide. Bestselling author and professional stained glass artist Lynette Wrigley shows you everything you need to know to make beautiful decorative pieces for the home. Thirty-one step-by-step projects range from copper foiled and leaded window panels to candle holders, mirror and picture frames, lightcatchers, and more. Expert methods for cutting and polishing, tracing patterns and soldering are explained with the novice in mind. Even if you've never cut a piece of glass before, Stained Glass Projects for Beginners will inspire you with the fascinating potential of stained glass.

Now firmly established in the ceramics world, paperclay is a vital part of the modern clay artist and potter's repertoire. The workability of this material allows expressive freedom and imagination at every stage in the creative process, from wet to dry. Paperclay, made with new or recycled paper, is remarkable for its flexibility, unfired strength, and the ease with which it can be repaired, and allows the creation of beautiful finished forms.

Building on the immense success of her previous Ceramics Handbook Paper Clay, pioneering artist, researcher and teacher Rosette Gault (M.F.A.) explains how potters and clay sculptors can make, fire and use the material. In addition to the basics, she introduces more advanced techniques for building armatures, sculpting figures and making works for the wall.

Packed throughout with photographs of inspiring works by a new generation of paperclay artists, Paperclay: Art and Practice is an essential introduction to the medium.

'A warm, funny, uplifting writer to celebrate!' KATIE FFORDE If you love Lucy Diamond, Phillipa Ashley, Sue Moorcroft and Holly Martin, you'll LOVE Erin Green's novels of love, life and laughter! 'A lovely, heart-warming story of three very different women trying to change their lives for the better . . . I was hooked! I hope there will be many more books in this lovely series!' CHRISTINA COURTENAY 'A delicious Shetland setting and the exquisite writing of Green, come together for a delightful tale of friendship, family and love' JENNI KEER Readers are enchanted! 'A lovely Christmas read . . . made me feel good. Excellent' 'An essential for anyone's pre-Christmas light and relaxing reading list' 'I couldn't put this book down it was that good. . . 10 stars at least' 'A wonderful festive read that makes you wish you were there' 'This was a beautiful escapist read' 'Great characters, great storyline and a big hug in book form will be found within the pages of this amazing festive book. Loved it' 'A lovely story of friendship, love, and starting over. I wish I lived in this town, could shop at their stores and be friends with these lovely characters' ..................................... Friendship can be the greatest gift you'll ever give . . . Verity is embarking on a better-late-than-never gap year now that her sons have flown the nest, and dreams of turning a lifetime's hobby of knitting and crocheting into a profitable new enterprise at Lerwick Manor's gallery. Nessie has returned to Shetland after two years spent retraining as a blacksmith on the Scottish mainland. She's determined to do whatever it takes to reignite the traditional craft and prove that gender is no obstacle to taking on her family's heritage. Isla is fresh out of catering college, but she is desperate to prove she has what it takes to run Lerwick Manor's artisan cafe. Focused on perfecting her grandmother's traditional recipes, Isla has no time for anything else - especially not her pesky ex. With the island's Yule Day celebration fast approaching, it's the ideal moment for their crafts to shine. But they can't do it alone - and their friendship might turn out to be their greatest creation yet... ..................................... 'A perfect story full of hope, love and friendship' 'An uplifting, engaging and heart warming book. Loved it' 'An amazing book and makes you really think that your dreams of changing your life can really happen' 'The author has the knack of making her characters spring off the pages so real that you'll care about them' Peterborough Telegraph Don't miss any of Erin Green's gloriously uplifting reads in Lerwick - look out for From Shetland, With Love, Sunny Stays at the Shetland Hotel and A Shetland Christmas Carol - perfect for any season! You are invited to a holiday where friendship, home comforts and romance are guaranteed . . . look for New Beginnings at Rose Cottage! If you don't ask you'll never know . . . it's a great time for Taking a Chance on Love!

You don't need much to make your first pot, just a piece of clay and an idea. At the same time, it's a craft one develops over a lifetime. Making Pots is a handbook both for the beginner and more experienced potter. Basic skills are taught along with a background explanation of the rich history of pottery. Step-by-step the potter, Stefan Andersson, guides us on the potter's wheel, glaze manufacture and firing, sharing his techniques and know-how. Stefan also describes how to set up your own workshop, make your own tools, and design, stone-by-stone, your own kiln. What happens if there's a pocket of air in your clay? If the potter's wheel slips when you centre the clay? Or if the pots fall apart as you decorate the slipware? For each section there are also solutions to common problems. The book is founded on Stefan's enterprise and production of wood-fired ceramics with photos and diagrams describing the tasks and techniques. Chapters include: Clay Preparation Drying Glazing Firing Kilns Tools Forming Techniques

In this study, Emily Byrne Curtis explores as her subject lenses, spectacles, aventurine glass, and windows found in China from the sixteenth century. She traces their technological development back to the glassworks in Murano, Venice, and explores their significance in terms of Venice's commerce with China. Because glassware also figured among the gifts which three papal legates from the Vatican presented to the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors, the author examines many documents from the archives in Rome and the Vatican; the study therefore touches, to an extent, on the history of the Catholic Church in China. Curtis also discusses in the volume some contemporary Chinese references and verses to European glassware, and in the case of enamel materials, she discloses the pronounced effect their use had upon the decor of Chinese porcelains.

The latest title in Stackpole's bestselling Basics series, this book presents a fun, growing trend in glass crafts. Teaches all the basics for getting started in glass fusing: what type of glass to use and how to cut it; how to work with a kiln from setup to project completion; how to make your own molds and glass accents. Instructions and full-size patterns for 18 projects, including bowls, vases, plates, wind chimes, candleholders and more. Illustrated with hundreds of step-by-step photos, a gallery of inspiring projects, and a list of glass fusing resources.

An essential handbook for studio potters working towards achieving a fantastic spectrum of colourful glazes. Colour in Glazes teaches you all the methods for achieving colour in glazes, focusing on colouring oxides in detail, including the newly available rare earth oxides. Find out about the types of base glazes and the fluxes used to make them in relation to colour response as well as using colouring oxides to achieve depth and variety of colour, rather than resorting to commercial ceramic stains. Discover the practical aspects of mixing, applying, testing and adjusting glazes, and explore a large section of test tiles and glaze recipes for use on white earthenware, stoneware and porcelain fired in electric, gas and salt kilns. This new edition, fully updated and revised, contains advances in technology and new discoveries in the Periodic Table. It is an infallible handbook to achieving the colour you want, and to help you broaden your palette.

This is a comprehensive guide to the basic techniques and equipment: all you need to know, from tinning an edge, painting and etching to simple home cutting, delicate folk painting and frosted patterning. The beauty of decorative glass is celebrated in practical, inspirational designs such as herb jars, nightlights, poem vase, copper foil mirror and a stylish Alhambra picture frame. It features examples of the finest glasswork from contemporary craft artists and designers. It presents the definitive modern approach to a traditional craft, with every stage clearly illustrated with photographs in step-by-step instructions for 25 superb projects. It features over 300 photographs of the finished projects so you can what you are aiming at. The availability of easy-to-apply paints in an exciting range of colours means that glass decoration is within the reach of everyone, without the need for specialist equipment. By mastering a few simple skills, you can turn everyday objects into attractive pieces. Here you will find 25 practical projects to inspire you, presented in an easy-to-follow step-by-step format. A variety of basic techniques includes etching, painting, stained-glass construction, wirework and glass-cutting, which are then applied to decorate functional objects such as decorated herb jars and nightlights, and ornamental pieces such as a heraldic bottle and a candle bowl. Further inspiration is provided by the gallery section, in which leading craftspeople display their work, from stained-glass effect mirrors to gilded bowls. This comprehensive guide shows you how to create beautiful objects in a classic medium.

The art of the object reached unparalleled heights in the medieval Islamic world, yet the intellectual dimensions of ceramics, metalwares, and other plastic arts in this milieu have not always been acknowledged. Arts of Allusion reveals the object as a crucial site where pre-modern craftsmen of the eastern Mediterranean and Persianate realms engaged in fertile dialogue with poetry, literature, painting, and, perhaps most strikingly, architecture. Lanterns fashioned after miniature shrines, incense burners in the form of domed monuments, earthenware jars articulated with arches and windows, inkwells that allude to tents: through close studies of objects from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, this book reveals that allusions to architecture abound across media in the portable arts of the medieval Islamic world. Arts of Allusion draws upon a broad range of material evidence as well as medieval texts to locate its subjects in a cultural landscape where the material, visual and verbal realms were intertwined. Moving far beyond the initial identification of architectural types with their miniature counterparts in the plastic arts, Margaret Graves develops a series of new frameworks for exploring the intelligent art of the allusive object. These address materiality, representation, and perception, and examine contemporary literary and poetic paradigms of metaphor, description, and indirect reference as tools for approaching the plastic arts. Arguing for the role of the intellect in the applied arts and for the communicative potential of ornament, Arts of Allusion asserts the reinstatement of craftsmanship into Islamic intellectual history.

This is the black and white paperback edition of Toast & Marmalade and Other Stories, published in hardback in 2014 by Saltyard Books. If you would like the original colour illustrated version of Toast & Marmalade it is available in hardback. 'Emma Bridgewater, queen of kitchenware, proves herself to be queen of the memoir too.' Stephen Fry 'What a great read - a true British inspiration story - I loved it!' Cath Kidston 'Emma Bridgewater's captivating recipe for a happy family life: food, passion, work, love.' Meg Rosoff Plunge into the world of pottery, family, childhood, work, motorway service stations, holidays, beaches, markets, recipes, dressing-up boxes, patchworking, country & western music, picnics, camping and the lost world of telephone calls costing 2p. Emma Bridgewater looks back on her life and work, with a wonderful patchwork of stories that show the inspirations behind the Bridgewater business and how it all started after a failed attempt to find the perfect birthday present...

Nearly all glass makers (unless they are blowing glass) need moulds which can go in the kiln, as part of the process of creating their work. Currently glass students and makers get their expertise and recipes from lots of different sources, picking out the relevant bits and pieces which they need from other glass and ceramic books. This book aims to introduce all the mould-making techniques for casting glass, with detailed information on materials, recipes for mould mixes, methods and applications. It helps the student to learn which methods are appropriate for different types of work, and covers all the basics of how to make your mould. It also includes practical information on sourcing, storing, using and recycling materials, and how to develop your own recipes and methods for particular projects. It also covers where to start with writing programmes for kiln firings including annealing and cooling. It also contains images from well-known artists working in cast glass throughout.

Learn how to apply interesting and inspired surface techniques to your ceramic work through 20 step-by-step projects. Carve Your Clay takes you through creative techniques that produce amazing, dynamic results, including inlay, piercing, sgraffito, etching, relief carving, wire cutting, and more. Gain new skills as you complete 20 projects featuring author Hilda Carr's signature style, each with clear step-by-step photography and easy-to-follow instruction to achieve beautiful results. This comprehensive book includes an easy guide on how to create basic forms, as well as glazing and firing techniques. Whether you are new to ceramics or are a more experienced potter looking to explore new surface design techniques, Carve Your Clay will educate and inspire you.

Josiah Wedgwood, perhaps the greatest English potter who ever lived, epitomized the best of his age. From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, he revolutionized the production of ceramics in Georgian Britain by marrying technology with design, manufacturing efficiency and retail flair. He transformed the luxury markets not only of London, Liverpool, Bath and Dublin but of America and the world, and helping to usher in a mass consumer society. Tristram Hunt calls him 'the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century'. But Wedgwood was radical in his mind and politics as well as in his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, read pioneering papers to the Royal Society and was a member of the celebrated Lunar Society of Birmingham. Most significantly, he created the ceramic 'Emancipation Badge', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement. Tristram Hunt's hugely enjoyable new biography, strongly based on Wedgwood's notebooks, letters and the words of his contemporaries, brilliantly captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.

This is the first volume to bring together archaeology, anthropology, and art history in the analysis of pre-Columbian pottery. While previous research on ceramic artifacts has been divided by these three disciplines, this volume shows how integrating these approaches provides new understandings of many different aspects of Ancient American societies. Contributors from a variety of backgrounds in these fields explore what ceramics can reveal about ancient social dynamics, trade, ritual, politics, innovation, iconography, and regional styles. Essays identify supernatural and humanistic beliefs through formal analysis of Lower Mississippi Valley ""Great Serpent"" effigy vessels and Ecuadorian depictions of the human figure. They discuss the cultural identity conveyed by imagery such as Andean head motifs, and they analyze symmetry in designs from locations including the American Southwest. Chapters also take diachronic approaches?methods that track change over time?to ceramics from Mexico's Tarascan State and the Valley of Oaxaca, as well as from Maya and Toltec societies. This volume provides a much-needed multidisciplinary synthesis of current scholarship on Ancient American ceramics. It is a model of how different research perspectives can together illuminate the relationship between these material artifacts and their broader human culture.

Learn the tools and techniques you need to start making ceramic mugs, bowls, and more! Step-by-step instructions complete with color photographs Includes a chapter on bisque firing, waxing, and glazing 4 basic pottery projects for the beginning potter The art of pottery making is described in detail for the beginning potter. Complete with a chapter on tools and materials to get started, this easy-to-use guide explains and illustrates how to wedge clay, use a pottery wheel, shape and trim pots, determine clay thickness, add handles, and a host of other pottery-making techniques. It also contains a chapter on bisque firing and glazing, the final steps in creating beautiful and functional pottery. Includes complete instructions for making a large bowl, three styles of mugs, and a sugar bowl and creamer set.

Handbuilt Ceramics is a practical guide to all aspects of technique, but goes further by exploring the studio practices of ten exciting contemporary makers. Advice is given on how to get started and information on tools and equipment, types of clay and a safe workspace set-up. Handbuilding methods, such as pinching, coiling, slabbing and press moulding, are explained in detail with step-by-step sequences. Techniques for creating surface interest, pre and post firing, are included using coloured slip, glaze or paint. Ideas for combining techniques and ways to experiment are explored and encouraged, as well as tips to avoid common problems and to achieve successful outcomes. With over 350 lavish photos, this book will provide inspiration through a unique understanding of current work. It is written both for the novice and for the experienced maker looking for a new direction.

Interviewing nearly 30 of the Aldermaston potters, many of whom have written some fascinating submissions about this incredible workshop. The book features a wonderful, previously unpublished, account from Geoffrey Eastop's memoirs, about how he came to Aldermaston and helped to establish the pottery with Alan Caiger-Smith in the mid 1950s. The book tells the story of the 51 years of the Aldermaston Pottery, through the words and experiences of as many of the potters as possible, whilst also chronicling Alan's own achievements over the decades. The images also play an important part in telling the story. The book also follows the subsequent careers of the potters, and tell how they went on to make a difference, and to sustain the maiolica tradition, all over the world. As there has never been a book published that has traced the career of this important figure or the life of the pottery, or the 60 people who worked and trained there, and there are very few photographic records of this lost way of working, this book will fill that gap in the history of 20th century studio pottery.