Nantgarw China Works

When in South Wales its worth a visit the Nantgarw China Works Museum. Quite an amazing find if you are interested in the history of pottery and it couldn’t be further from Stoke on Trent. Mike works with porcelain some of the time so made a visit and had a really great experience. There is a small fascinating museum, workshops and courses, and a very big Welsh welcome from a close community of staff potters and volunteers. The entrance fee is very modest.

This tiny pottery made the finest porcelain for 4 years. It was wonderfully translucent even when quite thick. The downside was that it had 90% failure rate in the kiln! No business can survive with that productivity so 4 years later porcelain was no longer made there. The original porcelain formula is lost with the inventor who died 4 years later. The formula seems to be somewhere between porcelain and bone china from what Mike can tell, as the museum has done some analysis of artefacts. He would love to try working on it as it is not commercial functional ware he is making with it.

The museum is run with a core of inspiring volunteers who do very knowledgeable free tours amongst other things, some modern potters working in stoneware and porcelain, pottery and glass teaching and making goes on in a more modern workshop with up to date equipment, although the work of making would be the same. There’s a great shop and interesting gallery. The cafe is also great for refreshments. You also get to see in the museum pipe making and something on salt glaze functional ware both of which the pottery was used to make subsequently.

What was especially good to see were the people working in the workshops on courses. It had a great atmosphere of people who clearly enjoyed learning the craft. All in all a very friendly place with a lovely community atmosphere.

Today Mike revisited and met Sally Stubbins the ceramicist who works on the porcelain at Nantgarw. She has explored and overcome some of the technical difficulties with working with the porcelain. It is painstaking work, but she has created some wonderful pieces. The clay mix is worked with from powder form and that in itself is not straightforward as very very hard frit has to be ground commercially. But the “soft paste” porcelain, which ironically is very hard, an expensive and rarer form of posh porcelain historically has when it fires well some beautiful qualities. Aside from Sally’s considerable skills with the making and exploration of translucency from traditional to modern pieces, she also decorates, another considerable skill. She applies her skills as a very accomplished botanical artist and the results are very fine indeed. Sally is exhibiting this work at Nantgarw China Works Museum currently, along with he co-ceramicists and glass artists Lupin Wright and Freya James who work with stoneware a later historical manufacturing process at Nantgarw. Mike would thoroughly recommend a pot of tea, a slice of heavenly bara brith with butter and a long perusal of Sally et al’s wonderful pieces. The museum is a volunteer run charity and would love your visit.

Freya James, stoneware bowls