This splendid bowl illustrates the calligraphic brush-stroke style which was the leitmotif of the Aldermaston Pottery, founded by Alan Caiger-Smith in 1955. During the 1960s it became famous for its tin-glazed earthenware with colourful inglaze decoration and overglaze reduced-lustre pigments, which contain compounds of silver and copper.

Unlike most contemporary studio potters who worked alone, Alan Caiger- Smith (b. 1930) established a workshop at Aldermaston in which he and one or more experienced potters, notably Edgar Camden, worked together with students who stayed for short periods. This traditional approach enabled the pottery to produce ‘bread and butter’ wares, such as mugs and jugs, while allowing individuals to develop a personal style for commissioned work. It also ensured that the tin-glaze and lustre techniques which Alan Caiger- Smith painstakingly revived and developed were passed on to younger potters. Unfortunately, despite his success, tin-glazed earthenware has remained an unfashionable technique in Britain, and the Aldermaston Pottery closed in 1993.