I found out about Isis because one of the people who works there introduced herself to me at my stall - she had won one of my pots in a raffle for Clay College Stoke, the new training course for studio potters. Later, I looked at the Isis website and realised why I hadn't heard of them: they are not part of the studio pottery circle, which can be exclusive, and they work only to commission by hotels, restaurants and private buyers, not selling through shops, galleries or fairs. Their inspiration is 18th century English delftware.
They make by slip casting and jigger and jolly, which studio potters sometimes describe as "industrial" or "mass production", but these categories are debatable. Although pottery making can be mechanised, much of the pottery industry is craft based. Both slip casting and jigger and jolly are skilled craft operations. On the other hand, you can mass produce on the potter's wheel, as did Sidney Tustin at the Winchcombe pottery. The decorating at Isis ceramics, which has only four employees, is done by hand and brush, which only the top potteries, like Wedgwood and Herend, do now.
I was please to be introduced to this charming pottery.
Isis Ceramics
The New Toffee Factory
West Hill Farm
Church Lane
Horton-cum-Studley
Oxford, OX33 1AP
No comments :
Post a Comment