Curator’s Choice

15 October 2007 to 30 April 2008


Camberwell College of Arts has long been a melting pot of progressive ideas and a fertile training ground for innovative ceramists. Many of its teachers and pupils - throwers and hand-builders alike - have profoundly influenced the recent history of British studio ceramics. I wanted to capture something of the breadth and openness of thinking associated with ‘the Camberwell School’, selecting only those who trained or taught there from the late 1950s onwards.

Anthony’s house provides a rich, multi-layered context for the presentation and appreciation of ceramics. I imagined filling the pink room exclusively with work by Ewen Henderson, Gillian Lowndes and Sara Radstone: three artists who, for me, epitomise Camberwell’s radical spirit of enquiry. I was curious to see how their poetic objects would speak to each other. In the natural environment of the kitchen, I pictured stacks of finely thrown tableware by Lucie Rie, Colin Pearson and Jim Malone.

I quickly came to admire Anthony’s integrity and passion as a collector and his concentration on building substantial groups of work by his favourite artists. These exceptional collections lend important insight into the evolution of thinking and making by certain leading practitioners over several decades.

Amanda Fielding Camberwell / V&A Research Fellow

Hans Coper (1920-1981), Ian Godfrey (1942-1992), Ewen Henderson (1934-2000), Karin Hessenberg (b.1944), Mo Jupp (b.1938), Gillian Lowndes (b.1936), Jim Malone (b.1946), Colin Pearson (b.1923), Sara Radstone (b.1955), Lucie Rie (1902-1995), Keith Vaughan (1912-1977), John Ward (b.1938)

Press release