The alchemy of ceramics never ceases to amaze me. There is little that is predictable in the transmutation of clay and glaze in the heat of the firing and despite scientific calculation, discoveries are made by chance as much as by design. Ideas about pots come from the materials I use, the processes I like, the people I meet, from where I live and the gritty reality of urban life… Colours and textures are those we encounter in the metropolis.
KEY TO IMAGES
01. Conical bowl, stoneware, thrown, with slip and multiple glaze: 2007
02. Emmanuel Cooper throwing pot: c. 1967
03. Tableware range c.late 1960s
04. Teapot c. 1970s [Pallant House Collection]
05. Coffee set: 1976
06. Three vases, porcelain, thrown, with multiple glaze: late 1980s
07. Fonthill Pottery sign made by Emmanuel Cooper: c. 1973
08. Small bowl, porcelain, thrown with yellow glaze and bronze rim: c.1980s
09. Emmanuel Cooper packing kiln: c. 1974
10. Glaze tests. c.2005
11. Earliest surviving Emmanuel Cooper glaze recipe books: 1964
12. Jug: glaze test
13. Bowl, porcelain, thrown featuring the famous ‘Cooper blue’ glaze: 1996
14. Emmanuel Cooper dipping pots in glaze: 1978
15. Yellow bowl, porcelain, thrown with decorated rim: c. 2008
16. Conical bowl, porcelain, thrown with turquoise glaze and spot lustre decoration: 2008
17. Bowl, stoneware, thrown with slip and multiple glaze c.2002
18. Jug form, stoneware, thrown and assembled with slip and multiple glaze. c.2005
19. Conical bowl, porcelain, thrown with yellow and gold lustre decoration: 2004 [Fitzwilliam Museum Collection]
20. Three jug forms. Stoneware, thrown and assembled. c. late 1990s
21. Three conical bowls, stoneware, thrown, with slip and multiple glaze: 2007
22. Teabowls. Stoneware, thrown and turned. 2008
23. Two stoneware jug forms, thrown and assembled with slip and glaze: c. 200s
24. Conical porcelain bowl, thrown with yellow glaze and red rim
25. Emmanuel Cooper throwing pot c. 1990s
26. Three vessels, stoneware, thrown, c.2000s
27. Handbuilt tea towls, porcelain, 2010
28. Handbuilt jug forms, porcelain, 2010
29. Handbuilt chalice or ‘nones’ based on ‘Ku’ form ritual vessels
30. Emmanuel Cooper throwing pot: Derek Reay: 2010
31. Handbuilt tea bowls, porcelain, 2010.
32. Emmanuel Cooper: in his shop – the Fonthill Pottery – 38 Chalcot Road: 2000s