Oxford Ceramics Group

Welcome

Welcome to the Oxford Ceramics Group. If you are interested in ceramics and would like to learn more, please join us.

We welcome members with a wide range of interests and levels of knowledge. We cover European pottery and porcelain, mainly from the 17th century to the present day, and also explore links to other cultures.

Membership includes

  • Study Days with lectures on a wide range of topics, usually held in the Ashmolean Museum, in a relaxed and friendly environment. Handling Sessions are often included.

  • An informative newsletter, issued three times a year, often containing new material.

  • Guided tours of private and public collections, with the owner or curator.

  • A compendium of newsletters, published every three years.

Explore

Explore this website via the tabs at the top of the page. You will find information about current OCG events, zoom lectures, research papers, links to other societies, and examples of members’ ceramics.

Join Us

To become a member of the Oxford Ceramics Group, please download the form, fill it out and post it to:

The Membership Secretary
Orchard Lea House
Steeple Aston
Bicester OX25 4RT

Annual subscription rates are £23 per person or £30 for two persons living at the same address.

Please make all cheques payable to ‘The Oxford Ceramics Group’

Download Form

Royal Crown Derby Vase – painted by R Hague. Circa 1908.
Dutch delft jug. Circa 1700.

The objective of the Oxford Ceramics Group is to encourage the study of European pottery and porcelain whilst also exploring their links to other cultures. We aim to provide a forum for collectors, students and enthusiasts to obtain and exchange information.

Ashmolean Museum Oxford

Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round / Without a pause, without a sound: / So spins the flying world away! / This clay, well mixed with marl and sand, / Follows the motion of my hand; / For some must follow, and some command, / Though all are made of clay!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The oldest known ceramic artifact is dated as early as 28,000 BCE, during the late Paleolithic period. … It is believed that from China the use of pottery successively spread to Japan and the Russian Far East region where archeologists have found shards of ceramic artifacts dating to 14,000 BCE.

Whoever cultivates clay, harvests silk.

Sicilian proverb