CLAY LAKE PUBLICATIONS
Publisher of books as digital downloads and on discs for reading on a computer
Digital Downloads and Discs
All the titles include colour and b&w illustrations.
Material Values in Art & Design
This book has been written with the aim of identifying why we use certain materials, when and how they were first discovered, their cultural and economic significance, the methods invented for processing and fabricating materials, and not least the values, both aesthetic and economic, placed on them.
£10.00 - Digital Download
£12.00 - CD
The Design Process in British Ceramic Manufacture 1750-1850
This is the first investigation into the principles linking the design process in ceramics with the methods of manufacture. Where previous writers on this subject have emphasised the design styles associated with the period I have taken greater account of what I choose to identify as opportunistic and prescriptive practices; in other words the ceramic chemist and designer's ability in achieving predetermined results as against the use of materials and practices over which he had limited control.
£10.00 - Digital Download
£12.00 - CD
Ceramic Materials and Practices from Antiquity to circa 1900
The aim of this work is the provision of findings resulting from recent investigations into working practices developed over the past two thousands years thereby going beyond the coverage available in standard works on ceramic history.
£7.00 - Digital Download
£9.00 - CD
Aspects of Ceramic History
Volume I
Focuses on developments in Staffordshire with particular consideration of the Elers brothers, there is also an assessment of Simon Shaw's contributions to the County's history. I also trace the region's ceramic developments as revealed through archaeological investigations.
Volume II
Subjects discussed in this volume include the Factory System, introduction of steam power, and matters relating to attribution and the dating of ceramics.
Volume III
Assesses the French Connection in English ceramics including the links between the Comte De Milly and Josiah Wedgwood plus the employment of French designers and ceramic artists in Staffordshire from the late 1840s.
£7.00 (per volume) - Digital Download
£9.00 (per volume) - CD
Clarice Cliff Rediscovered
Until the staging of an exhibition of Clarice Cliff’s work at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery in 1972 Clarice Cliff, Ceramic Designer, had almost disappeared from public consciousness. To those who knew her before this event she was Mrs Shorter, wife of retired company director, Colley Shorter. Gordon Elliott’s account of his conversation with Clarice Traces the events leading up to her rediscovery. A facsimile of Martin Battersby’s now extremely rare poster for the exhibition comes with the disc.
£5.00 - Digital Download (Poster not included)
£11.99 - CD
This disc includes a facsimile of Martin Battersby's poster for the Brighton Museum exhibition of Cliff's work, 1972.
Early Documentary Evidence Relating to Ceramic Production: Interpretation and Evaluation
Given that what is known about the past, recent or distant, is more or less dependent on documentary evidence whether it be hand written, the printed word or for more recent times the photographic record, the quality of this evidence will, of course, vary depending on its intended purpose.
Because all forms of written and visual communication lend themselves to misunderstanding one needs to apply diligence in their interpretation. It is with such considerations in mind I have chosen to limit my investigations to the ceramic industry of Staffordshire; arguably a rich field for the forensic mind.
£7.00 - Digital Download
£8.00 - CD
Traditions and Trends in British Ceramic Collecting
The establishment of Britain’s collecting traditions had its origins in two distinct isms which emerged in the seventeenth century, namely antiquarianism and orientalism. Collecting at this period was largely a prerogative of royalty, the aristocracy and the unusually well educated. It was only with the establishment of antiquarian societies and mechanics institutes that its pleasures were gradually introduced to the country’s less privileged classes. A feature of this book is its identification of collectors whose discernment and enthusiasms have enriched our public and national institutions.
£8.00 - Digital Download
£9.00 - CD
The Natural History of Staffordshire by Robert Plot
County histories were rare in Britain prior to the eighteenth century, hence the importance of two works, The Natural History of Oxfordshire, 1677 and a similarly worded title on the county of Staffordshire by Dr Robert Plot published in 1686.
The methodology underlying these works is in marked contrast with the published historical works which were to appear later. Plot’s writing is in parts characterised by an over dependency on unverifiable stories handed down from earlier generations, and even statements contrary to rational interpretation. Events of his own times were, however, reported with a much greater sense of objectivity.
Plot, incidentally was a contemporary of Drs Robert Hooke and Boyle at Oxford. This disc is accompanied by Joseph Bronne’s 1682 map of Staffordshire.
£5.00 - Digital Download (Map not included)
£11.99 - CD
Included is Joseph Bronne's Map of the county, 1682.
Form, Pattern & Function in British Studio Ceramics Before 1980
Given my role as Keeper of one of the largest ceramic collections in Europe, I suppose I was somewhat blinded by the splendours apparent in ceramics from the Far East, Near East and, indeed, pre nineteenth century European traditions in the medium.
Against this background perhaps I could be excused for neglecting certain modern ceramics as represented in contemporary British Studio wares. In view of my impending responsibilities in 1978, arising from my appointment as a tutor on a degree studies course, I felt it essential that I embark without delay on a process of discovery regarding the above subject, this title being, in part, a result of the ensuing exercise.
£7.00 - Digital Download
£8.00 - CD
Pots, Personalities & Propaganda
The issuing of limited editions in ceramics and other media has proved popular since the 1970s. However, this marketing strategy should not be confused with the manufacture of commemorative wares taken up in Britain as early as the sixteenth century. Pots, Personalities & Propaganda describes the varied and fascinating reasons for these significantly different categories of ceramics which emerged in the period identified with the Industrial Revolution.
£7.00 - Digital Download
£8.00 - CD
Potters (CD Only)
My long-standing interest in personal testimony was given added impetus during the 1970s by a series of conversations with people who had at some time worked in the ceramic industry of North Staffordshire. I was particularly conscious at the time that unless steps be taken to place on record the richness of their individual experiences they would be lost with the holders’ passing, hence the publication in 2004 of my Potters: Oral History and the Staffordshire Ceramic Industry, published by Churnet Valley Books in 2004.
£9.00 - CD
The Holy Grail and other Totemic Ceramic Artefacts
Arising from more than a hundred years of attribution, based upon experiences we may collectively identify as connoisseurship, many ceramic artefacts have been identified with makers, periods and geographical origins. However, since the twentieth century there has been a greater emphasis on evidence resulting from science-based practices, which the author has evaluated and linked to a selection of ceramics representative of a succession of periods ranging from antiquity to those which emerged with the onset of the Industrial Revolution.