Curator Talk: 100 years of Winchcombe Pottery

Museum & Art Swindon is hosting a curator talk on the centenary of Winchcombe Pottery on Tuesday 2 February, with independent curator Helen Brown taking the lead. It's a look back at a pottery that's left a real mark on studio ceramics, and the talk runs in the Council Chambers.

Winchcombe's story starts with Michael Cardew's pioneering work, then moves into its production ware and, under Ray Finch, its training legacy. It's a broad sweep that goes from early kiln disasters to handmade pots for everyday use, with international links and customers ranging from Gordon Russell to Cranks restaurants. If you've ever wondered how a small pottery ends up with that kind of reach, this is where it's laid out.

Helen Brown knows the subject well. She spent many years at Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, where she curated the pottery's first retrospective in 1998, which later travelled to Stoke-on-Trent and Penzance. Since then, she's curated Radical Clay at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Michael Cardew: The Winchcombe Years at Court Barn in 2016, and, with Mary Greensted, Pioneers, 101 Years of the Leach Pottery in 2021. She's spent a good part of her career working with this kind of material, so she's coming to this with a lot of ground already covered.

The session runs for 45 to 60 minutes, with time for questions afterwards, so there's room to ask things if you're following along. It starts at 7pm in the Council Chambers, and tickets are £9.00.