An exhibition of contemporary tableware from the British Council Collection, including cutlery, crockery, cruets, glassware and table accessories by makers from around the UK. The Dish of the Day table image above shows pieces by:

Victoria and Michael Eden
Established their current workshop at Hale in Cumbria in 1981 to produce a range of domestic pottery. Their work is hand thrown using red earthenware which is dipped in a copper slip and decorated when firm. A clear glaze is applied before the final firing.
platter, dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1996-7

Annette Meech
Studied at Leicester Polytechnic before going on to the Royal College of Art. All the glasses shown here are free blown with an added coloured stem and foot.
rhubarb Martini glass 1992, rhubarb wine glass 1993

Majolica Works
Is a small studio based company in Manchester, where the partnership of Wendy jones and Liam Curtin work with a team of assistants to produce a range of tin glazed earthenware, thrown and hand painted with cobalt oxides on red terracotta clay using a traditional majolica technique.
dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1997

Nick Munro
Studied Mechanical Engineering at Nottingham University before going on to the Royal College of Art to undertake an MA in Industrial Design. These two glasses are made using a ‘crakling’ technique which requires a great deal of skill as hot blown glass straight from the mould is plunged into cold water, shocking the outside surface and making it crack. The glass vessel deforms as a result and has deep cracks which must be fused back together by returning it to the furnace. Once reheated, with the cracks fused and sealed, the vessel is put back into the mould and blown back to its correct shape.
white transparent skittle glass 1997
blue transparent lemonade goblet with pewter foot 1997

Sandy Brown
Studied at the Daisei-Gama Pottery in Mashiko, Japan from 1969-73. Her work is characterised by its free, generous forms and coloured abstract decoration.
octagonal dinner plate, side plate, cup and saucer 1997

First Glass
Was established in Newent, Gloucestershire in 1990 by Bob Crook and the First Glass Partnership in 1994 in London, with S.Hearn and K.Bear. Crooks studied at West Surrey College of Art and Design. The works are blown in moulds and the twisting decoration applied later.
large and medium green tumblers 1997

Rob Turner
Studied ceramics at Camberwell School of Art s and Crafts and then Stoke-on-Trent Polytechnic. He set up a workshop in South London designing and decorating factory made ceramics and glassware using traditional transfers. His first transferred porcelain was made in 1986.
Orbis dinner plate, side plate, bowl, coffee can and saucer 1991
Orbis whisky glass 1996 and Orbis wine glass 1997

Hilary Roberts
Studied at the University of Westminster (Harrow) from 1991-94. She produces tableware and other functional pots in porcelain that are mostly hand thrown and decorated with different white and clear glazes and stamps. Some works are constructed from low relief decorated slabs.
Dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1997

Dartington Crystal
Was established in 1967 in Torrington, Devon and was set up by the Dartington Hall Trust which was dedicated to rural regeneration, and aimed to bring economic, social and cultural vitality back to the countryside. The Sharon Collection was one of Frank Thrower’s earliest designs. After the bowl is blown, air is forced into the base of the glass which is then painstakingly drawn into a stem so creating the distinctive elongated bubble.
Sharon claret glass
Sharon goblet

Philomena Pretsell
Studied at Northampton College of Art and then at Edinburgh College of Art. Her work is made by flattening the clay by hand, then laying a paper pattern on the surface, according to whether it is a cup, plate, bowl or whatever. Patterns are impressed using an Indian printing block before the whole is folded into the appropriate shape. The pieces are finally decorated with transfers and slip trailing.
dinner plate, side plate, bowl, cup and saucer 1997

Helen Millard
Studied at Buckingham College and West Surrey College of Art and Design. She works alongside Annette Meech at the Glasshouse. Her works are free blown with coloured stems.
medium and small goblets 1997

Sabina Teuteberg
Studied at the School of Art in Zurich and then at Croydon College of Art and Design. She works by cutting and rolling coloured clay into slabs, which are shaped in or over plaster moulds, creating uniquely decorated pieces that are uniform in shape.
dinner plate, side plate, bowl and mug

Lindean Mill Glass
Was started by David Kaplan in Scotland in 1977; Annica Sandstrom joined in 1978. Annica trained in Stockholm and David in the USA and then at Edinburgh College of Art. The glasses are made using the ‘graal’ technique which dates from the early 1900s. This involved covering or casing one layer of coloured glass over another, this bubble is allowed to cool before the tape is cut to the desired motif and placed on the outer layer. The surface is then sandblasted with the tape acting as a resist. The bubble of glass is then attached to the blowpipe, reheated and blown into its final shape. The result is a two-tone decoration expanded in much the same way as lettering on a balloon.
coloured water glass 1996
ruby champagne glass 1996

Rupert Spira
Studied at West Surrey College of Art before going on to train with Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge Pottery. He produces a range of functional pots that are thrown in stoneware clay and glazed ina variety of colours.
dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1997

Annette Meech
medium and large banded goblets 1996

Jane Cox
Studied at Camberwell School of Art and then the Royal College of Art. She produces a range of earthenware tableware using various techniques: throwing, jolleying and handbuilding. These are then decorated using coloured transparent glazes which are elaborately layered and built up.
dinner plate, side plate, espresso cup and saucer 1997

First Glass
coloured ball champagne glass 1996
tornado tumbler 1996

Daniel Smith
Studied at Harrow College, after graduating in 1994 he set up his first workshop in Mile End, London. He produces a range of mostly thrown domestic porcelain ware in basic shapes with clear or coloured glass.
dinner plate, shallow bowl, bowl and beaker 1997

Colin Hawkins
Graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1997. The clear glass tumblers are created by dipping the initial blown bubble back into the furnace containing the molten glass, the new layer of glass then partially dictates the tactile form of the tumbler, becoming oval in shape so as to snugly fit into the hand.
medium and small Vortex tumblers 1997

Will Levi Marshall
Studied at New York State College of Ceramics. His present work is made using oxidised stoneware with additional lustre: the pieces are wheel thrown with alterations made during the drying process.
dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1997

Wendy Hooper
Studied at Middlesex Polytechnic and then at the Royal College of Art. The goblets are made in pale coloured German glass and the doughnut shaped bases in clear lead crystal. The goblets and bases are blown to shape and then joined before being cooled, cold cut, ground and polished.
yellow and pink goblets 1997

Julian Stair
Studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and then at the Royal College of Art. Stair works in a variety of materials, including terracotta, and produces small groups of works that can either be simply decorated or faceted.
dinner plate, side plate and bowl 1997

Tamar Glass
Was founded in 1993 by Wenna Bishop in partnership with Andrew R. Potter and David Wall. She studied at West Surrey College of Art and Design and later at the Royal College of Art. The works combine furnace-cast sections with blown parts using resin-sand, plaster or graphite moulds taken either from objects or modelled in clay or plaster. The decoration is applied on the surface after the piece is formed and whilst still hot.
Celebration goblet 1996
frosted tumbler 1996

Dish of the Day venues:

			Museum of Artsanias de Colombia		Jan – Feb 2002
			Mexico City and Monterrey Arts Museum, Mexico		Oct – Dec 2001
			Fundación Corp Group Centro Cultural, Caracas, Venezuela		10 Sept – 30 Sept 2001
			Le Bardot Museum, Algeria		5 - 31 May 2001
			State Museum of Fine Art, Almanty, Kazkhstan		8 Dec 2000 – 31 Jan 2001
			National Theatre Galleries, Bucharest, Romania		16 Oct – 20 Nov 2000
			The National Theatre Galleries, Bucharest, Romania1		8 – 31 Oct 2000
			Residence of the British Ambassador, Vienna, Austria		24 – 35 May 2000
			The British Council Atrium, Prague, Czech Republic		Dec 1999 – Mar 2000
			Museum Miejskie, Zabre, Poland		15 – 25 Nov 1999

Organised by Diana Eccles and Joanna Gutteridge, Visual Arts Department
For further information please contact Diana Eccles