Inventarnummer
60/635
Hersteller
Beschreibung
This three-gallon, earthenware cider jar was made circa 1945–6 by Ray Finch at the Winchcombe Pottery in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. The jar has a handle, a cork seal at the mouth, and a boxwood tap at the base. It is decorated with a trailed slip design in cream and is glazed dark brown. The jar is part of a large collection of traditional craft products acquired from the British Council in 1960.
Physische Beschaffenheit
1 cider jar: glazed earthenware, wood, cork; good condition
Bestandsgeschichte
Letter, Ron Wheeler to Roy Bridgen, 15 January 1998 – ‘The record cards to which the photographs have been attached and held in the file you made available, show the period as being post 1945. Cardew was at Winchcombe from 1926, when he re-opened a derelict country pottery, until 1929, when he moved to Wenford Bridge in Cornwall. Ray Finch, who had joined in 1936, ran it until war-time closure and then bought the goodwill of the business from Cardew in 1946. Ray is still there and has a remarkable memory of Cardew’s time.’, MERL miscellaneous note, B. L. 22 March 1961 – ‘The British Council collection. // This collection of material which is covered by the accession numbers 60/430 to 60/791 contains examples of craft products made in the British Isles. The major part of the collection was prepared immediately after the Second World War for a travelling exhibition which was sent to Australia and New Zealand. // The collection was purchased for a nominal sum by the Museum in two portions, the one in the summer of 1960 and the other in February 1961. // For further details see the individual catalogue cards and the catalogue prepared for the temporary exhibition of the collection.’, MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘A three gallon capacity cider made by “R. Finch, potter,” Winchcombe Pottery, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. // The body is of red earthenware glazed dark brown with cream trailed slip decoration. The mouth is sealed with a cork and the cider is poured by means of a boxwood tap just above the base. // It stands 17 1/4 inches high.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, ‘Introductory Note’ by Andrew Jewell – ‘The objects shown in this Exhibition of Country Craftsmanship were originally purchased by the British Council in 1946. They were selected for exhibition in Australia and New Zealand as samples of traditional handcrafts which were then being practised in the British countryside. The Museum of English Rural Life was fortunate to acquire this valuable collection from the Council and to have the opportunity of displaying such a wide variety of skills. // Almost all the crafts shown are still to be found in this country although, in the intervening fifteen years, many of the small firms and individual craftsmen whose products are represented in the Exhibition, have given up working. The number who now remain to carry on these particular traditional crafts continues to decline with the growth of mechanization, the obsolescence of their products and the difficult of finding apprentices to follow them. // All the objects on display have one characteristic in common – they were made to be used. Any aesthetic qualities which the craftsman achieved grew without self-consciousness. Over long years of apprenticeship the craftsman developed an intimate knowledge of the raw material at his disposal and its peculiarities. He acquired by inheritance the methods of his craft which may have had a continuous tradition over centuries of time. And he was quite familiar with the way in which his product was to be used. // We can derive pleasure simply by looking at the shapes and decorations. Both, however, are inseparable from function and environment, and the objects can only be most fully appreciated by an understanding of the purpose for which each was intended. // This, then, is an exhibition of everyday things, made by men and women who might not think of themselves as artists, but whose work, nevertheless, has enriched the daily life of those who live with their products.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, p.7 – 'Pottery // Slipware has been the traditional domestic pottery of Great Britain from very early times. It takes its name from the use of slip (semi liquid clay and water) which is used, generally as decoration, on a body of a contrasting colour.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, p.8 – 'Winchcombe Pottery, Winchcombe, Glos. // 70. Beer or Cider Jar (Ray Finch)', British Council Ref. No. 89.
Entstehungsort
Winchcombe
Datum
1945 - 1946
Objektbezeichnung
Material
Technik
Digitales Dokument
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_3286.tif - High resolution image
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_3605.tif - High resolution image