
Scottish Pottery Society
Promoting the Study of Scottish Pottery - Run by Enthusiasts; Charity # SC003935
Promoting the Study of Scottish Pottery - Run by Enthusiasts; Charity # SC003935
Margery Clinton (1931–2005) was a specialist in reduction lustre glazes.
She studied painting at the Glasgow School of Art between 1949 and 1953 and was part of the Young Glasgow group, whose inaugural exhibition was held at the McLellan Galleries in 1958. Clinton developed an interest in ceramics before going on to research reduction lustre glazes at the Royal College of Art in the early 1970s. It was there in London where she began research the lustre glass technique of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
In 1978 she set up a workshop at Newton Port in Scotland and worked there in partnership with Jan Williamson until 1981. She was assisted by Evelyn Corbett for many years. Clinton continued there until 1995 when she moved to a new studio at Templelands, Dunbar.
Clinton undertook a number of notable architectural commissions later in her life, and her work with tiles was regarded as spectacular. She has been exhibited at the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Glasgow Art Gallery and the Royal Museum of Scotland. Her tile work in public place is enduring and durable. Examples of Clinton’s tile work can be seen in the Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh and even the staff toilets at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Reduction glazes were the speciality.
Ornamental wares and tiles were produced.
In her later work, Clinton worked with paperclay, added about 1.5% paper to clay, totally changing its character.
She authored “Working with lustres” (also titled Lustres), published by Batsford in 1991, now Anova Books.
A comprehensive inventory of her recipes and research of lustres is held by the National Library of Scotland along with her correspondence, financial records, and working papers 1969 –95.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.