Medieval Pottery News

2010 European Archaeological Association Conference, The Hague, Holland

2010-09-20T14:37:00.004Z

These photographs are of a fantastic display of ceramics, glass and other artefacts from recent excavations in The Hague, Holland. They were on display in the Town Hall as part of the opening ceremony of this years EAA conference. They include fine examples of Maiolicas, Stonewares and Weser and Werra wares. The MPRG delegates present, Derek Hall, George Haggarty, Maureen Mellor and Duncan Brown could only find one label to disagree with!

Click here for PDF with images.

Douai International Symposium

2010-07-01T10:23:00.001Z

Click here for the provisional programme for the Early Medieval Pottery Workshops conference to be held in Douai in early October.

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The 1st International Congress on Ceramic Studies

2010-07-01T10:17:00.001Z

Tribute to Mercedes Vegas will be held in Cadiz from 1st-5th November 2010.

The event is aimed to anyone who is interested in ceramic studies,The congress will be a forum to analyze and synthesise recent advances in the techniques of cermaic analyisis, including methodology, morphological and typological classifications, graphical representations, new technologies in data processing, experimental studies, and scientific techniques.

Proposals for papers or posters are welcome. For more information, click here.

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Medieval Domestic Cultures Conference

2010-07-01T10:06:00.002Z

To be held at Rewley House, Oxford, 24th-26th September 2010.

The Society For Medieval Archaeology's autumn conference will examine the evidence for the interiors of late medieval domestic buildings. It is jointly organized with the Vernacular Architecture Group and brings together for the first time in recent years, scholars from all the relevant archaeology, history and architectural history to review the latest work in this field in England, Scotland and Wales.

Click here for more information.

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Launch of Festschrift for Frans Verhaege

2010-05-06T10:06:00.003Z

Some photos from the launch of Festschrift for Prof Frans Verhaege (a very old friend of the Medieval Pottery Research Group) that took place in Bruges, Belgium, on Thursday 29th April 2010.

Click here to download a pdf of the images.

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Ceramic views of Scotland and northern England from the Neolithic to the 20th century: issues of method, practice and theory

2010-04-29T13:19:00.002Z

An inter-disciplinary meeting, Glasgow, July 1-2, 2010

Please see the link below for further details:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/newslinks/ceramicviews/

You can also download the poster for the event here

LAUNCHED - Wiki page for Revised Research Strategy and Agenda Project

2010-04-01T10:12:00.007Z

Wiki page now launched for the Revised Research Strategy and Agenda Project. For further information and details see the following article: MPRG Research Strategy and Agenda: Regional Framework Project (pdf 36.5KB) or click here to view the website.

SEM2010 - SEM & Microanalysis in the study of historical technology, materials and conservation, 9th-10th September 2010

2010-03-17T09:17:00.002Z

The British Museum will be hosting a conference on SEM and Microanalysis in the study of historical technology, materials and conservation on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th September 2010. For more information visit www.britishmuseum.org/sem2010 or click here for the event flyer.

Early Medieval Finds from the British Isles - A day conference on theoretical and practical approaches to material culture Saturday, May 29th 2010

2010-03-17T09:09:00.004Z

A one-day conference is being held at the University of Oxford entitled: Early Medieval Finds from the British Isles: A day conference on theoretical and practical approaches to material culture, to be held on Saturday, May 29th 2010. The aim of this conference is to allow researchers and post-graduate students engage with current approaches to early medieval material culture.

We would like to invite proposals from current post-graduates for the poster session at this conference, with the possibility of papers being published in a resulting monograph.

The conference is free to attend, but space is strictly limited. Registration forms can be sent to either christopher.ferguson@arch.ox.ac.uk or jane.kershaw@arch.ox.ac.uk

Click here for the conference programme.

SEMPER Meeting "Aspects of Pottery". 17th April 2010

2010-03-17T08:47:00.002Z

The South East Midlands Pottery Research Group SEMPER (incorporating the East Anglian Pottery Group) will be holding a meeting entitled Aspects of Pottery on Saturday, 17 April 2010, to be held at Harlow Museum. This meeting is being held to discuss subjects that were close to the heart of Wally Davey, who died recently. As usual, there will be plenty of opportunity to view pottery, including examples of wasters, so please bring along your problems (ceramic only, please!) as well as any interesting (or not so interesting!) sherds – not necessarily linked to the themes of the day.

Booking form and location maps can be downloaded here.

North and south: tobacco pipe studies in the western Mediterranean and their north-western European connections. 4th-7th November 2010

2010-03-17T08:32:00.005Z

The 26th conference of the Académie Internationale de la Pipe will be held in Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes, France from the 4th to the 7th of November 2010 at the Bibliothèque Municipale. It will focus on the magnificent collection of European pipes of all types made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Alice Baroness Rothschild, which was donated to the library after her death in 1922. The collection will be made accessible for detailed study by members of the conference and a number of background papers will be presented about it. There will also be a series of presentations of new archaeological evidence for pipe production and consumption in southern France, northern Italy, Spain and further afield. Anyone interested in giving a paper or attending the meeting, please contact Dr Susie White at:susie_white@talktalk.net.

Opinions sought on unidentified vessel...

2010-03-01T17:24:00.005Z

A pottery vessel recovered from a middle Iron Age enclosure at Beckford, Worcestershire, remains unidentified and undated despite a great deal of study. The authors are hoping that one last attempt at circulating information about the vessel might result in a firmer identification. Because of the nature of the recovery there are no associated finds and the vessel cannot be assumed to be contemporary with the enclosure. If you can provide any parallels, or information on the date of this vessel we would be very pleased to hear from you. Please send your thoughts to the MPRG webmaster who will pass them on.

Click here for more information about the vessel or click here to contact the webmaster.

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MPRG REGIONAL GROUP MEETING (SOUTH) 20th March 2010

2010-02-09T15:42:00.002Z

EARLY MEDIEVAL POTTERY IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND

The Southern regional group are holding a meeting on the subject of early medieval pottery (6th-12th centuries) in the region. This will take place at Hampshire Museums Service in Winchester on 20th March 2010, starting at 10.30. Places are limited so please let us know you are coming, but there is no charge as refreshments have kindly been provided. We are planning on having lunch in a nearby pub.

The speakers will be Ben Jervis, Beth Ricketts, Phil Jones, John Cotter, Katherine Barclay and Lorraine Mepham. The day will cover pottery from West Sussex, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset. There will also be an opportunity to view pottery from the region. Please feel free to bring sherds along!

For more information or to book a place please contact Ben Jervis (bpj106@soton.ac.uk).

Click here for the programme of events

Call for Papers - Potters' workshops in the early Middle Ages (Vth -XIIth century)

2010-01-07T13:40:00.003Z

An international conference to be held in in Douai (Northern France) in October 2010.

Please reply by 31st January 2010, click here for information or click here for longer version of information.

UPDATED - Forthcoming conferences:

2009-12-02T13:24:00.023Z

- THINGS MEDIEVAL: A conference in tribute to Alan Vince

To be held at the Museum of London, on the 27th February 2010. Click here for conference flyer (pdf 75kb)

- Call for papers for the next MPRG Annual Conference, Perth, Scotland, 14th to 16th June 2010:

"DATING AND DEPOSITS: ceramic chronology and site information".

UPDATED - Book now for good room rates

Click here for more information (pdf 70kb) or go to the Conferences page.

UPDATED - Only a few places left book soon! Continued Professional Training for Ceramic Archaeologists

2009-09-03T10:52:00.005Z

New dates are now available for the previously postponed MPRG training course; Medieval Imported Pottery

The course will run on the following dates at the University of Southampton:

25th - 26th January 2010
27th - 28th January 2010

For full details on the courses please click here (pdf 37.2kb)

To book please download the booking form here (pdf 53.7kb)

The London Region MPRG Meeting - 18th April 2009

2009-03-23T08:34:00.002Z

The London region medieval pottery research group will be meeting at The Surrey History Centre, Woking on the 18th April, 2009 at 10.30 am. The theme of the day will be Surrey early medieval pottery, c. 400-1200.

Please bring along some pottery and if you would like to give a short paper related to the theme of the day then please contact Chris Jarrett: editor2@medievalpottery.org.uk.

SCIENCE AND CERAMICS - Recent developments in analysis and interpretation

2009-03-06T09:07:00.008Z

Saturday 6th of June 2009
A one-day meeting of the Medieval Pottery Research Group at the British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham

The cost for the conference fee is £40, concessions £30. Lunch is included.

Directions to the venue are available here:
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/contacts/sites/keyworth/kwhome.html

For the full programme and booking form click here(PDF 57.6kb).

MPRG Occasional Paper 3 - AVAILABLE NOW

2009-03-02T13:02:00.007Z

The Harlow Pottery Industries - Wally Davey and Helen Walker with contributions by Richard Bartlett, Mike Hughes and Alan Vince

Click here for full details and ordering information.

UPDATED: Continued Professional Training for Ceramic Archaeologists

2009-01-15T09:03:00.000Z

The Medieval Pottery Research Group with funding from English Heritage is running a series of training courses in November 2008 and February, May and September 2009. The courses are designed to provide career development for archaeological ceramicists who work on a freelance basis or within commercial archaeological units or in the university or museum sector. Whilst the courses are intended to be of particular value to those involved in the study of post-Roman ceramics they will also be of value to those involved in the study of prehistoric and Roman pottery.

February Dates have been postponed, see updated documents below.

Dates for September 2009 now confirmed - 21st-22nd and 23rd-24th.

For full details on the courses please click here (pdf 67.1kb)

To book please download the booking form here (pdf 57.2kb)

Continued Professional Training for Ceramic Archaeologists

2009-01-15T09:00:00.002Z

The Medieval Pottery Research Group with funding from English Heritage is running a series of training courses in November 2008 and February, May and September 2009. The courses are designed to provide career development for archaeological ceramicists who work on a freelance basis or within commercial archaeological units or in the university or museum sector. Whilst the courses are intended to be of particular value to those involved in the study of post-Roman ceramics they will also be of value to those involved in the study of prehistoric and Roman pottery.

Dates for September 2009 now confirmed - 21st-22nd and 23rd-24th.

For full details on the courses please click here (pdf 67.1kb)

To book please download the booking form here (pdf 57.2kb)

Il Bello dei Butti

2008-10-17T14:59:00.010Z

Exhibition at Faenza, Italy, 29 Oct 2008 - 01 Mar 2009

For details on the exhibition please click here (pdf 307kb)

Continued Professional Training for Ceramic Archaeologists

2008-10-17T09:00:00.000Z

The Medieval Pottery Research Group with funding from English Heritage is running a series of training courses in November 2008 and February, May and September 2009. The courses are designed to provide career development for archaeological ceramicists who work on a freelance basis or within commercial archaeological units or in the university or museum sector. Whilst the courses are intended to be of particular value to those involved in the study of post-Roman ceramics they will also be of value to those involved in the study of prehistoric and Roman pottery.

Dates for September 2009 now confirmed - 21st-22nd and 23rd-24th.

For full details on the courses please click here (pdf 67.1kb)

To book please download the booking form here (pdf 57.2kb)

MPRG (Southern Section) Regional Meeting: Monday 20th October

2008-09-26T14:01:00.007Z

MPRG (Southern Section) Regional Meeting: Monday 20th October at Tudor Merchants Hall, Westgate St, Southampton (10.00 start)

Understanding the end of Medieval Ceramics in Southern England

The day will provide an opportunity for the dissemination and discussion of recent work on Late Medieval and Early Post-Medieval pottery from southern England. Contributors will include Duncan Brown (Southampton Museums), Ben Jervis (Southampton Museums), Lorraine Mepham (Wessex Archaeology), Penny Copeland-Griffiths (independent researcher), Dan Cater (Bournemouth University) and Jacqui Pearce (MOLAS, to be confirmed). Research from across the region will be presented including discussions of recent work in Southampton, Reading, Dorset and Winchester. A selection of 14th-17th century pottery from excavations in Southampton will also be on display and attendees are invited to bring along any groups of significance if they wish.

The day will start at 10am, finishing at approximately 4pm. Lunch is not provided although there are a number of pubs and shops in the area. There will be a small charge of £2.00 to cover refreshments.

If you would like to attend please email Ben Jervis

Continued Professional Training for Ceramic Archaeologists

2008-09-10T10:26:00.011Z

The Medieval Pottery Research Group with funding from English Heritage is running a series of training courses in November 2008 and February, May and September 2009. The courses are designed to provide career development for archaeological ceramicists who work on a freelance basis or within commercial archaeological units or in the university or museum sector. Whilst the courses are intended to be of particular value to those involved in the study of post-Roman ceramics they will also be of value to those involved in the study of prehistoric and Roman pottery.

For full details on the courses please click here (pdf 62.9kb)

To book please download the booking form here (pdf 57kb)

Conference

2008-09-02T07:32:00.007Z

XLII Convegno Internazionale della Ceramica

Tecnologie e produzione della ceramica in età medievale e moderna

Savona - Albisola

29-30 maggio 2009

Conference Leaflet available here (pdf 272kb)

“Brightness, lustre and shine: colour in the medieval household”.

2008-08-21T13:05:00.006Z

Our knowledge and perception of colour is extremely different from that of the medieval mind and therefore to understand colour we must look at how everyday domestic features were decorated and used in the later medieval period. Lustre and shine were more important in the medieval world than the hue of colour, and within the domestic sphere the use of illumination from windows and fires would have been an important factor in the perception of colour. In households the colours of material culture, including furniture, paintings, decor, clothing, ceramics and other objects, were an essential component in how material was experienced in the everyday.

We are seeking papers from research students, early career entrants, established researchers and those working within the professional and public archaeology sectors, as well as the museum’s service, who are studying domestic material culture and using the aspects of colour and lustre within their research. Papers are invited on aspects of material culture studies dealing with these issues and papers on related topics such as light, vision and pattern are welcome too. The session hopes to encompass the whole of the medieval period, from post-Roman to the late medieval/ post-medieval transition with particular attention to the later medieval period, and papers are welcome on the archaeology of Britain, Europe or beyond. It is hoped that this session will be a platform for discussion on how we can approach the study of colour in the domestic household through artefacts, paintings, decor, clothing or the use of lighting. How can we make inferences about how colours were used, perceived, and the visual impact, symbolic connotations and meanings which they held in the medieval period?

See following link: TAG Conference 2008 sessions

Conference

2008-05-21T22:34:00.003Z

Ceramica da farmacia tra Basso Medioevo ed Età Moderna

30 - 31 maggio 2008

Savona: Complesso Monumentale del Priamàr, Palazzo del Commissario

Albisola Superiore: Museo della Ceramica "M. Trucco"

Centro Ligure per la Storia della Ceramica's conference on Late Medieval and Early Modern Drug Jars, May 30-31, at Savona and Albisola in Italy.

www.museoarcheosavona.it/convegni.htm

Recent news

2008-04-27T09:54:00.001Z

The latest information on our Siena conference is now available (click Conference in the main menu) and other news is now online in our Newsletter (click Current Newsletter in the main menu).

EMUNI poletna sola/Summer School

2008-03-12T17:45:00.000Z

Dear colleagues

Within the Summer school EMUNI, taking place between the 15th and 30th June 2008, we will be carrying out a course in Medieval and Postmedieval Archaeology, with lectures from prof. Sauro Gelichi (Universita Ca’Foscari Venezia), doc. dr. Vesna Bikiæ (Archaeological Institute, Beograd) and prof. Mitja Gustin (Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska, Koper). Apart from the lectures, a seminar will take place.

The Summer School is an opportunity for participants still studying to earn 6 credit points and apply for the grant.

The Summer School offers a unique oppportunity for a work and social gathering of those, interested in medieval and postmedieval archaeology of the Adriatic and its’ hinterland.

Beacuse of the prolonged programme of the Summer School and other work obligations of the participants, this interesting opportunity is being announced early on, as the official notice will not follow until end of March. Preliminary applications are expected, so as to provide a weblink to the site for official applications as soon as the notice is made public and carry out all the necessary organizational work.

Important dates:
31.03.2008 – preliminary registration
15.04.2008 – grant application deadline
30.04.2008 – Summer School registration deadline

S prijaznimi pozdravi
With kindest regards

Zrinka Mileusnic Prof. Mitja Gustin

New Year, New Look!

2008-01-15T22:38:00.000Z

The website has been updated with the new newsletter today, and has also had a bit of a facelift with a new colour scheme. I hope it's given it a sharper look than the old pastel version but please feel free to comment.

AIECM2 Venice, November 2009

2008-01-15T17:34:00.000Z

The call for papers for this international conference has now been extended to 29 February 2008. See the pdf here for details.

Ticknall Conference

2007-09-13T19:27:00.000Z

The Medieval Pottery Research Group (East Midlands) and the Derbyshire Archaeological Society invite you to a meeting on

"THE VERY BEST SORT OF EARTHENWARE"
CISTERCIAN AND MIDLANDS PURPLE WARE FROM TICKNALL, SOUTH DERBYSHIRE

To be held at Sharpe's Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DG

27th October 2007

Tickets: £13.50, buffet lunch £6

This conference and study day aims to highlight the Cistercian and Midlands Purple wares manufactured at Ticknall as well as exploring our current state of knowledge of these wares. A display of Ticknall pottery will be available for viewing and attendees are invited to bring along examples of Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware for display and discussion.

10:00 Welcome
10:15 Janet Spavold and Sue Brown: The Historical Background to the Ticknall Potteries
10.50 Anne Boyle: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Yorkshire and the Midlands
11.25 Julie Edwards: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Chester and Merseyside
12:00 David Barker: Cistercian and Midlands Purple ware in Staffordshire
Lunch
13:45 Ian Rowlandson: Excavations at Church Lane, Ticknall
14.20 John Hudson: The Cistercian and Midlands Purple Ware Potters
14:55 Alan Vince: Chemical Analysis on Pottery from Ticknall
Tea/coffee and discussion and handling session
16:00 Finish

Click here for a booking form (word doc).

Look East! Medieval Pottery from the Eastern Counties

2007-06-10T08:56:00.000Z

There will be a meeting of the South East Midlands Pottery Research Group SEMPER (incorporating the East Anglian Pottery Group) on Saturday, 23 June 2007, to be held at the new offices of CAM ARC (formerly Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit).

The theme of the day will be medieval pottery from the eastern counties, in particular distributions, both within and without the area. This will be a good opportunity to hear what’s been going on in East Anglia – it is over ten years since we last had East Anglian pottery as a theme. We will also have a chance to view the pottery from the Cambridgeshire pottery project.

Please let me know if you are coming, either email a.slowikowski@albion-arch.com or anna.slowikowski@bedscc.gov.uk
by phone (01234–294005 or mob. 07870–980834) or write to Anna Slowikowski, Albion Archaeology, St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s St., Bedford MK42 0AS. Or just come along on the day! There will be a charge of £2 to cover tea/coffee and biscuits. Please bring along any interesting (or not so interesting!) bits of pottery for viewing – it doesn’t have to be from East Anglia!

Programme

10.30 – 11.00 Coffee
11.00 – 11.10 Paul Spoerry - Introduction
11.10 - 11.30 Jane Timby - 'A Slice of Rural Essex. Archaeological discoveries from the A120 between Stansted Airport and Braintree'
11.30 - 11.50 Helen Walker - Essex
11.50 - 12.10 Sue Anderson – Recent work in Norfolk & Suffolk
12.10 - 12.30 Alan Vince – Petrological studies in the eastern counties
12.30 – 2.00 LUNCH (arrangements have been made for lifts to a near-by pub)
2.00 - 2.15 Hilary Healey – bricks, tiles and other curiosities
2.15 – 3.15 Paul Spoerry – the Cambridgeshire Pottery Project and Cambridgeshire pottery viewing
3.15 – 4.00 Other pottery viewing (pottery from recent excavations including, among others: Bedford, Bletchley, Stowmarket etc)
4.00 - 4.30 Tea and close

Recent Research on Byzantine Pottery

2007-04-10T18:21:00.000Z

A two-day Conference to be held in the Stevenson Lecture Theatre, the Great Court, the British Museum on Thursday June 14th and the Main Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute, London, Friday June 15th 2007.

The programme is available as a richtext file by clicking here.

The conference fee will be £15. Cheques payable to: The British Museum

Contact: Chris Entwistle, Department of Prehistory and Europe, British Museum, Gt Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG; Tel. 0207-323-8724; email centwistle@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Tudor Kiln Building Workshop

2007-03-23T20:33:00.000Z

19th and 20th May
Grayhill Living History Site near Chepstow, South Wales, Uk
http://www.grayhill.org/index1.html

A hands on workshop building a wood fired pottery kiln of the style used by Tudor potters. Camping is available on site or a B+B list can be provided on request. We ask that you bring a packed lunch for each day.

Cost: £50 including all materials and construction notes. We hope to run a second workshop later on in the year to fire the kiln. Pieces to be fired will be most welcome subject to them fittinginto the kiln. Please contact Antony Witton anwitton@yahoo.co.uk (01727 861274) to book a place or for further details.

Newsletter 56

2007-02-24T10:19:00.000Z

The December newsletter has recently been posted and you can access it at http://www.medievalpottery.org.uk/nlcurr.htm

The UK Reference Collection page has also been updated, but please take some time to check your details are still correct: http://www.medievalpottery.org.uk/refcoll.htm and let me know if there are any more changes to be made.

New look MPRG News page

2007-01-01T15:33:00.000Z

Welcome to all MPRG members and non-members. This page is for news directly related to post-Roman ceramics, although other posts relevant to our members are also welcome. Please send information about courses, conferences, exhibitions, jobs, etc to webmaster@medievalpottery.org.uk for inclusion.