Curator Talk with Helen Ritchie: The pots and partnership of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Norah Braden

Helen Ritchie is coming to the Council Chambers at Museum & Art Swindon on Tuesday 1 December for a talk on the pottery of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Norah Braden. Ritchie is the Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Applied Arts at The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and she'll be spending about 45 to 60 minutes on the two women, with time for questions afterwards.

Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895–1985) was the granddaughter of the 4th Earl of Radnor and grew up at Coleshill House. She went against family tradition to build her own home and artistic practice on the estate: a cottage and pottery she shared with her partner and fellow studio potter Norah Braden (1901–2001). Together they made stoneware fired in a wood-fired kiln of Japanese design—only the second of its kind in Europe—and finished it with delicately hued glazes made from plant ash gathered on the estate. Their work was celebrated during the interwar period, drawing critical praise and showing in London galleries alongside ceramics by friends and contemporaries like Michael Cardew and Bernard Leach, and it was acquired by collectors and museums.

Ritchie's talk looks at the experimental side of their work and how the pair reconfigured 'country house' living in their quest for modernity, making space for an independent, queer life and artistic practice. It's as much about the partnership and the life they built as it is about the pots themselves.

The talk starts at 7pm on Tuesday 1 December at the Council Chambers, Museum & Art Swindon, and tickets are £9.00.