Oxford Ceramics Group

Visit to Shropshire
2023-09-26 - 2023-09-28
We have organised a three day visit to Shropshire giving members an opportunity to visit a number of different collections.
On the afternoon of Tuesday 26th September, we will be given a private tour of Weston Park with the curator. Weston Park is home to a world class collection of fine and decorative arts, and is surrounded by Capability Brown designed gardens. There is also an important collection of Van Dyck portraits.
The next morning there will be a tour of the Coalport China Museum, which has an extensive collection of Caughley. There will also be the opportunity to walk round the unusual shaped bottle kilns, and to see the studio and bespoke shop of artisan glass maker Jonathan Harris. This will be followed by a light lunch after which we will visit and have a tour of the Jackfield Tile Museum. We will see some of the most beautiful tiles including designs by famous artists such as Salvador Dali and William Morris.
On Thursday 28th September, we will visit Blists Hill Victorian Town. Here we will be able to step back to a time and place where traditional life and industry sat side by side. We will visit Victorian shops and cottages and see craftspeople demonstrating their trades in the recreated working town.
Finally, in the afternoon, we will visit the Darby Houses. These were the Ironmasters houses, and consist of Rosehill, built in 1738, and Dale House, built in 1717, which both sit on the hillside overlooking Coalbrookdale.
Accommodation and transport are not included but recommendations will be provided.

Vist to Rousham House, Bicester
2023-06-08 | Rousham House, Roucham, Bicester, OX25 4QU, United Kingdom
We have been offered an exclusive opportunity to visit Rousham House and gardens, which is about fifteen miles from Oxford. Rousham is one of the few houses that has been in the ownership of the same family since it was built, in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer. We will be given a guided tour of the house, where we will see the wings and stable block added, furnished, and decorated by Kent, as well as some of the 17th century panelling. The house has a collection of 18th century Chinese porcelain as well as Leeds ware, Meissen, Wemyss ware and Coalport. There is a variety of porcelain in every room.
Following the tour of the house, we will be free to explore the garden, which is one of England’s most important gardens. Rousham represents the first phase of English Landscape design, and remains almost as its designer William Kent left it. You can still see many of the features that delighted its 18th century visitors. There are also three 17th century walled gardens. In the park surrounding the gardens, there is a herd of rare longhorn cattle. It has been said that ‘Kent is the great genius of eighteenth-century garden design and Rousham is his masterpiece, one of the greatest gardens in the world’.
Rousham is uncommercial, with no tea room or shop. Members are welcome to bring a picnic, which can be enjoyed in the gardens after the guided tour.
The guided tour of the house will start at 11:30am.

Study Day - 'The Dining Table'
2023-04-29 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
The day will look at how changing dining habits and new ways of preparing food led to the introduction of dinner services and other ceramic forms designed specifically for serving food.
We are fortunate to have three acclaimed experts to talk to us about the history of dining, and dinner services.
Ivan Day, food historian and leading expert on re-creating historic meals and table settings, will discuss changes in eating habits and the introduction of a wider range of foods.
Miranda Goodby, long-standing Curator of Ceramics at the Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, will talk about the Staffordshire dinner service.
Helen Glaister, art historian specialising in Chinese ceramics and decorative arts, will talk about the rise of Chinese export porcelain for dinner wares from the late 17th to 18th centuries, focusing on aspects of design and form.
Members are welcome to bring items for interest and / or identification.
Tea and Coffee will be served on arrival, and a light lunch will be provided.

Visit to the Discover Bucks Museum
2023-03-08 | Discover Bucks Museum, Tring Road, Wendover, HP22 5PL, United Kingdom
Our members have been offered the opportunity to view one of the finest collections of 20thcentury studio ceramics in the country. The Discover Bucks Museum in Halton, has over 350 items, including pots by Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Ruth Duckworth plus many others which form an imposing and memorable collection. They also have an impressive collection of local potters including the Hillesden group.
Our visit will take place at The Resource Centre at Halton, Tring Road, Wendover, HP22 5PL.
This visit will give members the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of pieces, and to gain an insight into this type of studio pottery.
The tour will be split into two groups. The first tour will start at 10:30am, and the second tour will start at 2pm.

Annual General Meeting and Talk
2023-02-25 14:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
The Eighteenth Annual General Meeting will be held at the Ashmolean Museum, in the Headley Lecture Theatre starting at 2pm.
This will be followed by a talk from Matthew Winterbottom on the McFarlane Collection of Delftware which has recently been given to the Ashmolean Museum.

An Introduction to British Studio Pottery
2022-11-26 10:00 - 13:00 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
“There’s such a keen, passionate renaissance of people making pots just now. It’s a glorious, fabulous moment.” – Edmund de Waal
The study morning explores studio pottery, with particular emphasis on the V&A’s collection, which was started in 1917 with a piece of studio pottery made by Reginald Wells.
Oliver produced the first Studio pottery catalogue for the V & A in 1990, and Alun is currently updating the catalogue, to include the extra 32 years of acquisitions by the V&A. This new ‘Studio Ceramics’catalogue will be the primary reference for 20th-century and contemporary British studio ceramics, and a record of the national collection of British ceramics held at the V&A.’
During our study morning, we learn about the history of the collection from its inception, discuss the key acquisitions from the last 30 years, as well as looking at predictions for the Future.
The changes in philosophy and attitudes to Studio Pottery, and its fluctuating status as Art or Craft, will also be discussed.
Tim Wilson, president of the OCG, will give an introduction talking about the studio pottery that is in the Ashmolean.
Oliver Watson, Emeritus professor of Islamic Art & Architecture, Will talk about studio pottery up to 2000.
Alun Graves, Senior curator, ‘Ceramics and Glass 1900 – Now’ at the V&A museum, will talk about studio pottery from 2000 to the present day.
Members are welcome to bring items for interest and / or identification.
Tea and Coffee will be served from 10:00am and the first lecture will begin at 10:30am. The meeting will finish by 1pm, and members are welcome to make their own arrangements for lunch.

Private Visit to the Russell-Cotes Museum
2022-10-03 10:30 - 17:00 | Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, East Cliff Promenade, Bournemouth, BH1 3AA, United Kingdom
Our members have been offered the opportunity to have a private guided tour of the Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery in Bournemouth on a day when it is not open to the general public. Dr Anne Anderson will be our guide.
Following the tour, there will be a study handling session, giving us an opportunity to look at the reserve collection, and Anne hopes that we can help to identify some ‘troublesome’ pieces in the reserve collection.
Sir Merton Russell-Cotes made his fortune from The Royal Bath Hotel due to the expansion of the railways and Victorians “taking of the air” on the English Riviera, to escape the smog of London.
The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth is housed in a Grade 11 listed building, which was built by Sir Merton Russell-Cotes as a gift for his wife Annie in 1901. It became a museum in 1922 and it is celebrating its centenary this year.
They were both enthusiastic collectors of Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite Art and Ceramics and there is an extensive collection on view. There is also an opportunity to see souvenirs from their travels to Russia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Tea and Coffee will be served on arrival, and a light lunch will be provided.

Private Visit to Waddesdon Manor
2022-06-20 10:30 - 17:00 | Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon’s curator of decorative arts, Dr. Mia Jackson, is offering our members the privileged opportunity to visit the Manor at a time when it is not open to the general public.
It will be possible under guidance to view much of the rich array of decorative and fine arts which form this renowned collection of the Rothschild family.
The extensive collection includes outstanding examples of Maiolica, French and other European ceramics, as well as fine furniture, textiles and paintings.
We are very fortunate to also have a study handling session.
Coffee will be served on arrival. Lunch is not provided but members may wish to bring a picnic which can be enjoyed in the grounds before returning to the Manor.

Visit to Norwich
2022-05-19 - 2022-05-21 | Norwich, United Kingdom
The historic city of Norwich traces its beginnings from the Iceni and Boadicea, via the Vikings, the Normans and the flourishing Middle Ages to the present day. This wealth of history makes it a fascinating and interesting place to visit. Although the emphasis of our visit will be on ceramics, there is much more to see and do. It claims to be the most complete medieval city in the United Kingdom with cobbled streets and timbered houses. By the 18C it was the second largest city after London, with long-held bonds with the Netherlands.
On the afternoon of Thursday 19 May, we will visit a private collection close to the A11 to Norwich; it has over 500 pieces of early English porcelain including Bow, Lowestoft, Derby and Worcester.
The next morning, there will be a guided tour of the Cathedral. Founded in 1096, it has the second highest spire after Salisbury and the largest monastic cloisters in the country. This will be followed by a light lunch at the Castle Museum before a tour and handling session with the Curator. The Museum houses the Twining Teapot Gallery, excellent decorative arts galleries with cases of East Anglian ceramics, including Lowestoft, and a Chronological Arts of Living Gallery.
On Saturday 21 May, we will visit the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, well known for its studio pottery collection including works by Hans Coper and Lucie Rie. Coffee on arrival will be followed by a conducted tour with Paul Greenhalgh, former Director and author of Ceramics, Art and Civilisation. Our tour will end with a buffet lunch. The Sainsbury Centre has important ethnographica and tribal art collections, as well as works by Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein and Alberto Giacometti. Those who wish can visit the spring exhibition Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth.
The cost per head is £85. Accommodation and transport are not included but recommendations will be provided.

Visit to Magdalen College, Oxford
2022-04-29 11:00 - 13:00 | Magdalen College, Oxford, OX1 4AU
The President of Magdalen College has very generously given permission for the OCG to visit the President’s Lodging in order to see the Brocklebank collection of Anatolian. Middle Eastern and Persian Ceramics that are displayed in the President’s Dining Room. This is a great privilege as the President’s Lodging are not normally open to the public. We will be accompanied by John Nightingale, Chattels Fellow, Richard Allen, College Archivist and Dr Francesca Leone, Curator of Islamic Art at the Ashmolean who will be able to tell us about some of the pieces on display.
Lt. Col. Richard Hugh Royds Brocklebank (1881-1965) inherited an important collection of Islamic ceramics from is Uncle Ralph Brocklebank (1840-1921). His collection of 120 items of colourful Iznik, Kütahya and Persian ceramics was bequeathed to the college in 1975 by Hugh’s daughter Lady Rayleigh, in accordance with her father’s wishes.
Our visit will begin at 11 am with a welcome coffee and biscuits. We will then proceed to the President’s Lodgings to see the Brocklebank Collection. We will also have the opportunity to see the Brocklebank picture collection, including watercolours by Turner and the extraordinary early 16th-century Flemish tapestries that show the betrothal of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon that were presented to Richard Mayew, President of Magdalen in 1501. Mayhew was one of the embassy sent to fetch Catherine of Aragon from Spain to be Arthur’s bride. We will also be shown the Iznik tiles on the Senior Common Room staircase which form an important part of the Brocklebank collection.
Following our visit to the President’s Lodgings and SCR, Members will then be free to visit the college Chapel and beautiful grounds at their leisure– if we are lucky Magdalen’s famous snakehead fritillaries may still be in bloom!

Study Day - Named Sculptors and Ceramics
2022-03-26 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
Sugar ornaments were used on fashionable dining tables all over Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. With the discovery of porcelain at Meissen in 1710, more permanent figures could be made. Meissen developed this to a fine art with two skilled modellers Johann Jakob Kirchner and Johann Joachim Kandler.
The use of named sculptors in both porcelain and earthenware has continued to the present day and we are fortunate to have three acclaimed speakers to tell the story.
Errol Manners, porcelain expert and dealer, will concentrate on the 18th century.
Paul Atterbury, author and broadcaster, known to many from his appearances on the Antiques Road Show, will talk on named sculptors in 19th century England, including Parian ware and Majolica.
Gaye Blake-Roberts, former, long-standing Curator of the Wedgwood Museum, will talk about the wide range of sculptors working with Wedgwood.
Members are welcome to bring items for interest and / or identification.
Coffee will be served from 10.30am and the first lecture will begin at 11.00am. A sandwich lunch is provided.

Annual General Meeting
2022-02-05 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
The Annual General meeting will start at 2pm, and this will be followed by a lecture by Professor Timothy Wilson, the president of the Oxford Ceramics Group.

The Influence of Islam on European Ceramics
2021-11-20 | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, United Kingdom
The day will explore the important contribution of Islamic countries to the form and decoration of European ceramics.
Oliver Watson, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture, will give the opening introduction.

This fascinating subject will then be explored by three experts in this field.

Federica Gigante, Curator of the Collection from the Islamic World at the History of Science Museum, Oxford, will talk on the 17th century.
Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth, Curator of 17th and 18th century Ceramics and Glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum, will talk on the 18th century, and
Fuchsia Hart, who is currently undertaking a DPhil by research at the Khalili Research Institute, Oxford, as well as lecturing and writing, will talk on the 19th and 20th centuries.

Members are welcome to bring items for interest and / or identification.

Coffee will be served from 10.30am and the first lecture will begin at 11.00am. A sandwich lunch is provided.

Ceramic collections in Oxford
2021-10-20 | Private Collection, Oxford

Visit to Museum of Royal Worcester Porcelain and Croome Court
2021-09-23 | Museum of Royal Worcester Porcelain and Croome Court, United Kingdom
