The Staffordshire Potteries

“I told you these were shadows of the things that have been”

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

(Doulton, Wedgewood, Spode, Meakin)

The Staffordshire Potteries series (Doulton, Spode, Meakin and Wedgewood), a series of take away containers, becomes a conduit for reflecting on the changing traditions and rituals at the family dining table. Made from enameled copper mesh, they take the form of disposable vessels, however, the expendability of an everyday takeaway object is contradicted by the permanence of the materials and the reference to fine bone china in the floral emblems seen in the enamel. While I had been using white enamel for most of my work this year, this series utilised black liquid enamel to heighten the sense of demise, not only of the china tea set from everyday life, but of traditions that are being lost as the family home embraces a faster-paced lifestyle and throw-away culture.