A magnificent catalogue of the V&A's collection of twentieth-century and contemporary British ceramics. Contemporary ceramicists working in Britain, including Rachel Kneebone, Grayson Perry and Edmund de Waal, are part of a broader international group of artists experimenting with clay, considering how it intersects and works in dialogue with other art forms and with culture at large. Recent experimentation with the medium owes much to the rapid evolution of ceramics into an expanded field, and to the work of mid- to late 20th-century potters and their reinvention of ceramics as a radical and contemporary art practice. The pioneering methods and rethinking of form in the work of exponents such as Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Alan Caiger-Smith - whose reference points were drawn from East Asia, Africa, the ancient Mediterranean and the Middle East as much as from their own heritage - continue to influence and inspire contemporary makers. In his introductory essay, Alun Graves, Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, provides all lovers of ceramics - collectors, practitioners, historians and those interested in modern and contemporary art and crafts - with the historical context, documenting the medium's shift into an expressive, and sometimes interventionist, art form. An extensive visual catalogue, Studio Ceramics is the primary reference for 20th-century and contemporary British studio ceramics, and a record of the national collection of British ceramics held at the V&A.

Studio Ceramics (V&A Museum)

Arts & Photography

Graves, Alun

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Thames&Hudson

An illustrated survey of the use of tiles in interior design through the ages, from the Gothic through to Art Deco and the Omega Workshops in the 20th century. Many different styles are revealed through tilework, from the mellow Delftware depicted in paintings by Dutch masters, to the lively, inventive decoration adopted by Duncan Grant at his Charleston farmhouse. The influence of the Islamic world is shown in the tiles of Moorish Spain and the Victorian period, while the Gothic, and its revival in the 19th century, the Renaissance and Modernism are all represented. The book is illustrated with an array of pictures, which include not only individual tiles but also patterned and pictorial tile panels and items such as ceramic stoves as well as authentic interiors and elements of exterior decoration. Paintings and drawings set the tiles in context. Tiles have provided a particularly fertile opportunity for decoration, employing numerous ceramic techniques and an endless variety of styles through the centuries. Different tile-making processes are discussed and the continuing introduction of new practices is recorded, conveying a sense of the richness and diversity of the traditions of tilework in Europe. Appealing to collectors and to those interested in architecture and interior design, the book draws on the unique collections at the V&amp;A to provide a visual resource and a survey of a popular subject.

Tiles and Tilework of Europe

History & Criticism

V&A Publishing

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Crafts & Hobbies

Victoria & Albert Museum

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Books by Graves, Alun