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Sunday 21 July 2019


A Study Day in Memory of the late Kenneth James Barton

 19 October 2019 Bristol City Museum& Art Gallery,


 Ken Barton lived a full life, committed to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of our medieval and post-medieval past. He was a specialist in pottery, an excavator of castles and a curator of collections; also the founding Chair of the Society of Museum Archaeologists and a President of the Society for Post-medieval Archaeology. Ken’s funeral was in Normandy in 2018, so this event gives his friends and colleagues in the UK an opportunity to pay tribute and mark his passing.
 His family, friends and colleagues invite anyone interested in the history of archaeology, or the study of pottery, fortification, museums or the post-medieval period to attend a study day to honour his memory.
The day comprises a series of talks on subjects that interested Ken, and by definition will be of interest to many people. Former friends and colleagues will speak on archaeology in museums, medieval pottery, fortifications and the archaeology of post-medieval England.
 Lunch (provided) will be accompanied by a glass or two of wine, a toast to Ken’s memory and a viewing and discussion of pieces from the extensive collection of pottery Ken donated to Somerset County Museums Service now managed by the South West Heritage Trust.
 Places are limited. Admission and lunch are free. For further details and to book a place, contact Duncan Brown at Duncan.Brown2@historicengland.org.uk


Sunday 14 July 2019

MPRG 2019 CONFERENCE AND AGM

This year's conference is being held jointly with the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology on 5 October at  the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre, Mortimer Wheeler House, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 7ED  

One Thousand Years of Ceramic Innovation


 9.30am  Arrive and registration 

10.00am Welcome and introduction (Jacqui Pearce and Julie Edwards)

10.15am Alexandra van Dongen: Jan van Eyck’s Syrian apothecary jar: the earliest known depiction of Arab ceramics in European art as a marker of global trade

10.45am Gareth Perry, Tom Watson, Caroline Jackson: Purposefully Purple: Understanding the technological transition from late medieval green to purple glazed Humber Wares

11.15am Coffee break and pottery viewing

11.45am Naomi Carver: Ceramic innovation in post-medieval Ulster

12.15pm Tom Wennberg: Faience production in Sweden: a part of 18th-century mercantilism during the Age of Liberty 

12.45pm Discussion

1.00pm Lunch and visits to Ceramics and Glass Collection / MPRG AGM

2.15pm Patricia Ferguson: “Printing different Colours on One Plate”: Colour Printing on English Ceramics from 1756 

2.45pm John Hudson: Slipware from the ground up

3.15pm Tea break  

3.45pm Christopher McHugh: From Stoke to Seto: The adoption of British ceramic manufacturing techniques and styles in twentieth century Japan

4.15pm Julia Rowntree: Clay and hand skills: why do we need them?

4.45pm Discussion (Jacqui Pearce and Julie Edwards)

5.15pm Close


Conference fee: £25.  To book please contact Lorraine Mepham: l.mepham@wessexarch.co.uk or see our Facebook page for a booking form