About this collection

This is a collection of commercial handmade lead-glazed decorative pottery made in Australia between the world wars. Most pieces are wheel-thrown (that is, formed by the action of the hands on a spinning lump of clay) and a few are slip-cast (formed by pouring liquefied clay, called slip, into a plaster mould). A few have applied decoration (in which pre-formed pieces of clay are added to the main body for ornamentation), but most derive their visual effects from a harmonious blend of form, the vibrant colours of fired metallic oxides, and the incomparable ability of lead-based glazes to bring surfaces to life by responding to ambient light in ever-changing ways. 
   Most of the manufacturers represented in this collection were heavy industrial potteries—enterprises whose main business was bricks and drainpipes and sanitary wares. In the 1930s these firms catered to a demand for ‘modern’ handmade decorative objects for the Australian middle-class home. That this rise in demand for new-style decorative objects coincided with the Great Depression is a matter of some interest for social historians. 
    For this market the pottery firms hired or trained artisans, some of whom brought skills acquired directly or indirectly from the historic pottery districts of England and Scotland. Of course, these same materials and techniques had been in use around the world over thousands of years of human history.
    At the end of the 1930s, these firms curtailed production of decorative objects to focus on war requirements. Some resumed after the war, but not for long. Today a couple of these firms make wheel-thrown, hand-decorated pottery for the tourist market, but most have ceased to exist. Skills and manufacturing secrets, handed down through many generations, are disappearing too.
   Fortunately, many of their well-made pots can still be found and enjoyed. The items in this collection were discovered between 1992 and the present in shops and auctions in Victoria and Tasmania.

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