Victoria and Albert Museum, January 2003

It seems to have become customary for the KPA to have a visit to a museum or collection as the first visit of the year and this year was no exception, with a visit to the ceramics section of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Sometimes the turn-out for these visits is a little disappointing, perhaps because of a Winter lethargy, or because it doesn't sound as interesting as watching a potter at work. However it is, I suppose, due to the high regard in which we hold the V&A that there was a waiting list for the 25 places on this visit.

Fully equipped with badges and portable seating if required we followed Terry Bloxham, our speaker, to the gallery, where we started with some of the earliest pieces of tin-glazed earthenware in the collection. Terry certainly new her stuff, and a short article like this cannot cover everything we learned.

There is little doubt that the advent of tin-glazed earthenware developed in the near east - probably in the historical area known as Syria in the 8th century. There would have been a well-established pottery industry in the area. Pottery was already being glazed with a runny lead glaze to improve on the hygiene and water-retentive properties available with the earlier terra sigilata techniques. The key discovery was that tin added to the glaze would provide a stable white surface to which further decoration could be added using the already known 'high temperature' colours of copper, iron, antimony and manganese.

The decorative techniques used on the tin glaze were led (as ever) by the desire to imitate more expensive and desirable wares. In the Islamic countries, where food vessels of precious metals were prohibited, metallic lustres were developed very quickly to provide substitute. Later, as the use of cobalt became known, painting on the glaze became limited to blue and white in imitation of Chinese porcelain which was expensive to import overland.

The use of tin-glaze spread with the advance of the Moorish invasion across North Africa and into what is now Spain and Portugal. The Christian kingdoms in the North of Spain developed a taste for the ware, and the techniques also spread there and to Italy and on up into Northern Europe first through trade and then by espionage. The name Majolica may have come as a distortion of either from the name of the port of Malaga or the name of the Island of Majorca, which was a trading post.

As first the Dutch and then the English established trade routes with China by sea there came further pressure to imitate Chinese porcelain. The imitation did not stay pure for long, and one can see the subtle introduction of Western faces and clothing even though the scenery might at first appear oriental.

However much Majolica, Faience or Delftware looked like hard paste porcelain it was never able to show the same qualities in use. There was enormous pressure to actually produce porcelain. In Italy the wealthy merchants like the Medici were funding research in the 16th Century and did develop soft paste porcelain. However the final breakthrough came in Germany, probably by Johan Bottger, who was more-or-less imprisoned until he had successfully discovered the technique. It was with these pieces of high temperature red stoneware and porcelain that Terry left us to wander the rest of the immense collection.

Thanks to Jane Gibson for organising such in interesting and informative visit, and to Terry Bloxham for being generous with her time and for her friendly presentation kept us all spellbound.