Notes on Information Provided
Who is this website for?
The intention of this website is to further the Society’s charitable aims, as per our Mission Statement:
“The advancement of the Arts, Heritage, Culture or Science; Specifically the SPS will promote through meetings, lectures or other suitable media the study of the history and development of the design and manufacture of Scottish Ceramics.”
To the general pubic, we hope that this website can become a first step for those who have an interest in Scottish ceramics to better understand the production and wares of Scotland’s ceramic heritage.
For academics and researchers, we have additional resources of SPHRs, Bulletins and Newsletters, which contain more in-depth study of the history of Scottish ceramics, which can assist in further research, which we hope to encourage.
And for our loyal membership base, this website provides a digital home to store information, discuss our aims and methods as a Society and plan future research.
Members will receive access to a member’s only area, which will house our publications and a member’s only discussion section.
In order to accommodate each separate and quite different audience, the Society has not included the standard academic referencing into our overviews; instead opting to have the citations listed on each page separately. Our hope is that the information can be available to researchers and academics, whilst not intimidating or confusing a wider general public, who may have an appetite for Scottish Pottery but who do not have the same level of academic interest at this stage.
Sources, Citations & Referencing
The Scottish Pottery Society has provided a list of the most recognisable industrial Scottish potteries to have been operating, but the list is not exhaustive.
There were, for example, a large number of brick and tile works in operation at the same time which are not recorded here, as it doesn’t fall within our remit.
It does, however, cover a small section of studio potters and also a selection of ceramic artists, including the Glasgow Girls.
Information is provided in the overview section for each pottery. The overview is a brief summary of the history of the pottery and its owners, along with a section on the wares produced and the intended markets for sale, wherever information is known. All information is provided to the best of our current knowledge.
The information provided is sourced from the Society’s publications of the Scottish Pottery Historical Review (SPHR) and Bulletin articles; both of which are referenced in each respective page, if available. Named works are of importance on the subject, & references, patterns, etc are also listed for further study.
We must also note the extensive use of the two most prominent and important books of in general on Scottish Pottery:
Scottish Ceramics, Henry E. Kelly, 1999 – Schiffer Books (ISBN: 9780764309465)
Scottish Pottery, John Arnold Fleming, 1973 – Charles River Books (ISBN: 19780854097784) Quite inaccurate – SPS publications make substantial revisions
Additional sources of information are provided on each page, with references to further reading and also links to other relevant websites or research.
The work compiled in bulletins and SPHRs themselves are referenced, and these can be seen in the respective publications.
In order to provide further resources, and to further credit those who have assisted with research, we have also created a Bibliography & Links Page.
Scottish Pottery Society Publications
The Scottish Pottery Historical Review (SPHR) is the Society’s main publication for academics interested in research. It is published around every 2 years.
SPHRs contain referenced research into the Scottish ceramic industry, and contributions can come from any interested researcher.
Bulletins are produced every 6 months or so which contain articles of early research to be further investigated, with the hope of inclusion in the SPHR.
Newsletters are produced by Edinburgh and Glasgow branches after their monthly meetings to summarise the topic of the meeting and highlight any information or leads which could become a bulletin article.
Errata, Corrections & Contributions
This website will remain as an evolving work, with updates, corrections and further resources being uploaded as time goes on.
The information provided is subject to change and/or human error. If you notice any discrepancies or inaccuracies, please comment on the section provided at the bottom of each page. Your submissions will be read and processed. Please provide any references or citations in order that we can correctly attribute any research.
Contribute!
The Society is always excited to hear about research contributions.
If you are interested in contributing to our Bulletin, please see the steps here
