Fighting Resistance Meeting with SMAG and WCML

Last week saw my research period come to a close and the presentation of my ideas to the team at Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the Working Class movement library. It was a great meeting with everyone interested in the process I had undertaken over the last 6 months. From researching Pilkingtons Tiles and learning about the infamous William Burton to visiting the amazing collection at SMAG and WCML.

I talked about my fascination with the idea for a Refuge and the possibilities of recreating one in the gallery setting and of my visit to Lindesfarne and Holy Island to document the refuges there. I really like the idea of offering refuge or sanctuary in these times we we live in.  Other ideas included the transmitting through radio waves the names of the 16,000 conscientious objectors and the creation of a set of Commemorative plates marking each global conflict since the end of the First World War of which there have been 226.

The idea that excites me most and ties in with my practice in the strongest way is the commemorative plates, it links in with the Pilkingtons Collection and Archive situated at the Gallery, it ties in with my current obsession of conflict and ceramics and then there will be a perfomative aspect of the presentation of the plates by having them used in the cafe at SMAG and Ordsall Hall as part of the regular service.

I am know in the process of creating 226 commemorative plates! watch this space

Abraham Lomax, 16,000 experiments - Salford Local History Library 29th September 2016

This morning I took some time to visit Salford Local History Library and have a quick peek at the archival records for the Pilkington Tiles Archive which Duncan McCormick the librarian had kindly dug out for me.

The folder contained some 122 pages each one documenting an object, letter, artwork that forms part of the History of the company. The file was put together by Barry and Angela of the Lancastrian Pottery Society. What struck me most amongst the many correspondence and documents was how similar daily life seemed to be to ours. There were rent and rates demands, insurance documents, share capital and tax returns. Letters from prospective employees, legal demands for slander, magazine cuttings, artwork ideas, and a thousand patent requests. Just reading through the list of documents and objects gave me a real feel for the company and what it achieved. The company was a bit of an anomaly really, creating its own identity outside of Stafford and Stoke the pottery capital of the world. I think this gave it a real unique identity, it was also different for the workers who were used to the satanic mills and coal mines. The pottery was a place of imagination, colour, art and spectacle.

 I highlighted some things that I think will be of interest to the project one of them being the notebooks of Abraham Lomax who was the ceramic chemist left to experiment with glazes and clay bodies. He did some 16,000 experiments over his initial first years with much of his work providing the factory with important discoveries and glaze recipes for years to come.  The other is a book by Franklin Shaw entitled “my Fifty years” which I believe will touch on the the War years.

The Archive and the way it is documented is interesting in itself as life becomes History to be stored and sorted through at a later date. The pressing arguments of the day become a memory or artifact with little relevance apart from the lives it has touched at the and for someone looking for clues for the future.

Pilkingtons Lancastrian Pottery Society talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery 17th September

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On Saturday 17^th September I attended a talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery about Pilkington Tiles the talk was from Barry and Angela who are from the Lancastrian Pottery Society. The talk centered around the formation of the company from the 4 brothers who owned the coal company and discovered the clay deposits in the Pendleton Fault. Their first thought was to build a brick factory but they found out that the clay was unsuitable for this from an expert who suggested it could be used to create tiles and there was at the time a huge demand for ceramic tiles.

 The story for me got interesting when the brothers approached a Mr. William Burton who was well respected and currently employed at Wedgewood. The brothers courted Burton and he was finally released from Wedgewood in 1891.  William Burton was a Ceramic chemist and came with quite a reputation, he was responsible and sole master of Pilikington tiles, free to hire whomever he wished, many of whom he poached from the many Potteries of Stoke and Stafford, much to other companies disapproval!

 The company grew on this mans vision, his dazzling exhibitions and showmanship and spirit, he was also a great advocate for workers rights and pioneered many of today's practises of health and safety especially with regard ventilation and the use of lead in many of the enamel paints used in the potteries. 

  William Burton also employed many great artists both male and female and fostered an extremely creative and exciting environment to work in one such Artist was John Forsyth who created some beautiful tile pieces and fine examples of lustre ware, he also created the Peace vase that is on display dedicated to the end of the First World War. Forsyth also created an extraordinary vision of 6 massive tile panels celebrating the history of Ceramics that went on display in the Liverpool Museum. This tile piece was one of the only artworks to survive the bombings of WWII.

 Salford Museum and Art Gallery managed to secure the companies Archive when the company sadly went into receivership in 2010 when its overdraft ad loans were called in.  I will be accessing this in the coming weeks and look forward to finding out more about this great local employer and the people who worked there.

More information on the Lancastrian Pottery Society here : http://www.pilkingtons-lancastrian.co.uk/