Ceramics - Episode Three: A Fragile History
Stoneware vase, Bernard Leach, c.1931. Museum no. CIRC.144-1931. © V&A Images
First broadcast: BBC Four 24 October 2011
Studio pottery has become a great British triumph in the story of modern art, but it took an industrial revolution and two world wars to really start breaking the boundaries between art and craft.
The final episode from the series explores the story of pottery from the mass-produced ceramics of the Industrial Revolution through to the imaginative and provocative ceramics of today. From the Arts and Crafts movement, spearheaded by William Morris, to the rebirth of handmade pots by Bernard Leach, to the sculptural ceramics of Hans Coper and the site-sensitive work of Edmund de Waal, handmade pottery has accelerated rapidly over the past 100 years planting itself firmly at the heart of the British art world.
Drawing on the expertise and comments of contributors including Grayson Perry and Edmund de Waal and reviving archive interviews with studio potters Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie, this programme uncovers a whole host of revolutionary artist potters.
Click on a selection of objects featured in the programme to view more details
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Tue 25 June 2013–Tue 16 July 2013
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