Lost in a good book


Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass
August 1, 2014

One of the best resources at the V&A is the National Art Library, a major public reference library for the fine and decorative arts. The library collections are also spread across the Museum’s departments and I am fortunate to have access to a wealth of relevant texts in the Ceramics Section Library relating to the Blue and White display.

Quite a long reading list to get through!  © Victoria and Albert Museum
Quite a long reading list to get through! © Victoria and Albert Museum

Many books, exhibition catalogues and journals on the subject of printed ceramics have been published by study societies whose members have a specialist interest in a particular period of production, factory or artist. Their events and websites are also invaluable resources, for example this is a great online exhibition by the Transferware Collectors Club about American patriotic ceramics and their print sources.

Plate, 'Arms of New York', Thomas Mayer  © Transferware Collectors Club
Plate, ‘Arms of New York’, Thomas Mayer © Transferware Collectors Club
A facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, a design registered by John Binns in 1818 and printed in 1819. © Library of Congress
Print source – A facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, a design registered by John Binns in 1818 and printed in 1819. © Library of Congress, courtesy of the Transferware Collectors Club

In a few weeks I will get to meet some of these curators, dealers and collectors at Northern Ceramic Society Summer School, thanks to a generous bursary from the society. This year the topic is particularly relevant to the V&A display – ‘The Curious Art’; printing on ceramics from c1750 to the present day.

So I better get on and finish my reading!

About the author


Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics & Glass
August 1, 2014

I am responsible for the V&A's collections of Western 19th-century ceramics and glass. Current research interests include the architectural fabric of the V&A building, printed ceramics and 19th-century European glass....

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Comments

Hi Rebecca. We appreciate your including a link to the Transferware Collectors Club website and to the Patriotic America on-line exhibition. We’ll be posting a link to your new blog on our website. I don’t see a link from your site to enable one to receive automatic email notifications of new blog postings. Or have I missed it?

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