The Charlotte Rhead: Between Art and Industry display at The
Bowes Museum has now been dismantled and the items safely returned home. Sad
that it is over, but we have been most fortunate in being able to show off part
of our collection to a wider audience especially in such a prestigious
location. We say a very big thank you to The Bowes Museum for hosting the
display and in particular, Howard Coutts, Keeper of Ceramics, who was instrumental
in making it all happen and to Catherine Dickinson and Vincent Shawcross for
presenting it so beautifully.
We would also like to thank Howard for encouraging Ian to
give a short talk on collecting Charlotte Rhead pottery to the Northern
Ceramics Society at their meeting on June 20th in The Bowes Museum.
It did feel like gate crashing a 17th to 19th century
ceramics party but hope a little 20th century content provided an
interesting distraction.
In addition, it was most enjoyable being able to produce the
booklet to accompany the event and that will always be a fine souvenir of the
display. Many thanks to the team at Curious12 in Bishop Auckland and we have no
hesitation in recommending them to those searching for help with a design
and print project. They exceeded our expectations with their imaginative design
flair, advice on printing format and amiable patience with all the proof
reading niggles.
All that remains is to show some pictures of the display especially
for Charlotte Rhead enthusiasts who were unable to visit Barnard Castle this
summer.
Ian & Margaret
PS It is only by
chance, but the display cabinet being adjacent to the Jacques Gruber stained
glass panel is quite striking. The similarities of line and colour between Charlotte’s
pottery and Gruber’s leaded glass of a decade earlier, (c.1925) is quite remarkable.
The Bowes Museum links
Booklet preview link & Curious 12
