We are delighted to share that Clare Hall officially launched its 20th Century Studio Ceramics Research Centre on Saturday 27 September with the first-ever Bell Collection Symposium. The event, generously supported by the Isaac Newton Trust, drew curators and scholars from across the country.

Keynote speaker Helen Ritchie, Clare Hall Associate and Senior Curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum, shared new insights into the creative partnership of potters Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Norah Braden.

Other contributions included Professor Nigel Wood (University of Westminster) on the influence of Cizhou ware; Libby Buckley on future plans for the Leach Pottery in St Ives; design historian Tanya Harrod on potter Richard Batterham; Dr Helen Walsh (Centre of Ceramic Art, York) on collector Bill Ismay; and Dr Stephen Knott (Crafts Study Centre, Farnham) on Leach’s wider legacy.

Attendees also had the rare opportunity to view highlights from the Bell Collection, including works by Norah Braden and William Fishley Holland. The current display illustrates both the variety of twentieth-century ceramic practice and the enduring impact of Leach and his circle.

The event marked not only the beginning of a new research centre at Clare Hall but also a fresh chapter in the study of modern studio ceramics.

Read the blog by Dr Stephen Knott here.

Find more information on the Bell Collection here.