Secretary’s Notes

Council met on 21st January at the Society of Antiquaries. Once again this was a very full and productive meeting. The President began by congratulating all concerned on the appearance of Volume 24 of Medieval Ceramics (distributed early in January), and reported initial good feedback on the volume. Fundraising had drawn in sufficient money to cover the cost of producing Volume 24 and to make the production of Volume 25 viable. All being well, the latter should be ready in time for the June conference. The Editorial Committee are still actively seeking grants and sponsorship towards producing Medieval Ceramics, and are pursuing mutually beneficial advertising offers. With the emphasis of fundraising focused on the journal, production of our new publicity leaflet has stalled – preliminary efforts to attract sponsorship were unsuccessful, but we shall be returning to this at a later date.

MPRG was represented at the APPAG (All Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group) meeting in December. APPAG’s report has now been published. APPAG is concentrating its attention on SMRs, with a view to improving relevant legislation, but outside the meeting the lack of provision for synthetic projects was the subject of some dismay. This point is raised in the APPAG report, along with concern over the dwindling number of specialists, and a general lack of interest in artefacts. On a similar subject, an umbrella organisation (Heritage Link) has just been formed, to raise the profile of the Heritage sector with government, and Council felt that MPRG should become involved if at all practicable. We are also considering closer links with other societies, such as the Societies for Medieval Archaeology and Post-Medieval Archaeology, and the Finds Research Group. We should be making our voice heard.

From the Treasurer, the news that the Group is solvent was thankfully received. Thanks to our Membership Secretary’s work on the membership list, subscriptions have been successfully chased, although we still have a problem with institutional members whose annual payments are more difficult to track. Gift Aid also seems to have been causing some confusion – the Treasurer has received contradictory responses from the Inland Revenue on the subject, and is still not sure what is correct. Despite this uncertainty, we are re-circulating the Gift Aid forms with this newsletter – please take a moment to fill one in and return it, unless you have already done so, or think that your tax definitely cannot be claimed back.

Our Bibliography co-ordinator, Liz Pieksma, sadly announced her resignation at the meeting due to other commitments. Council decided that this would be a good time to consider what we really need from the Bibliography, and how it should be structured. Meanwhile we thank Liz for all her hard work on the Bibliography so far.

The next MPRG annual meeting is in Nottingham on 14th June, with the theme of Technology – advance publicity has already been circulated and a number of bookings made. Fuller details and booking forms are enclosed with this newsletter – we hope to see as many members as possible there for what promises to be a stimulating conference. Our AGM will also be held at the conference, and an agenda with accompanying minutes, etc. is also enclosed here.

On a sad note, the recent death was announced of Peter Farmer, whom some of us met last year in Dublin, a conference which he made the effort to attend after an absence from active participation in the Group of many years. An obituary will appear in the next volume of Medieval Ceramics.

The next Council meeting will be held in the third week in June; if you have any comments or wish to raise any issues, please contact me before then.

Lorraine Mepham, Secretary

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John Hurst

All of us involved with archaeological ceramic studies were shocked to hear of the violent death of John Hurst in Stamford. Struck down with him was his lifetime store of knowledge and experience, much of it irreplaceable. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. A full obituary will appear in Medieval Ceramics.

Maureen Mellor, President

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Bird Pots – Appeal for Information

MPRG has received the following appeal for information regarding bird pots:

I am currently at UCL researching the instance of Bird pots/bottles/jars (also referred to as nesting pots or sparrow pots or starling pots) in the archaeological record.

Type 2 above, Type 1 below

These red or grey earthenware vessels have a date range of c1500 to c1850 and are usually locally made, but occasionally seem to be Dutch imports. The fifty or so I know of, from the London area, are of two types. The majority are Type 1 (see photos – a cutaway base with a keyhole attachment, plus nib or handle with a hole for a perch) with only two Type 2s (see photos – square cutaway in the base and a separate hole for attachment to the wall of a building). A number of other types are known from Dutch paintings. If you have, or know of, any complete pots or sherds, I would be very grateful if you could fill in the information requested below and return it to Mr ATD Cooper, 59 Potters Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN5 5HS.

1. Site address; date excavated; type of structure excavated
2. Context; description; spotdate of context; earliest date; latest date
3. Bird pot type if known; description of sherds or complete pot
4. Dimensions if possible (mm); base diam; rim diam; height; colour; fabric
5. Estimated number of vessels; current location; publication reference
6. Any other known literary reference
7. What is believed to be the function of these pots?
8. Other comments; Museum Accession Number

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Undelivered Medieval Ceramics

Two journals of Vol 24 (surname A-N) were delivered back to MoLSS with address labels missing so we have no way of knowing who didn’t receive their journal. These people need to contact Nigel Jeffries at MoLSS.

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Worcestershire Online Ceramic Fabric and Form Type-Series

The Worcestershire online fabric and form type-series is the first part of Pottery in Perspective, an innovative project to provide information on the pottery used in Worcestershire from prehistory to cAD1900.

The county fabric series currently contains 250 pottery types dating from the Neolithic to the 19th century and includes types which are of national and international interest. Extensive analysis of ceramic production and consumer sites has resulted in a substantial corpus of illustrated vessel forms. These resources, along with the results of 30 years research and synthesis, are essential to researchers studying material culture in the Worcestershire region, but are not generally easily accessible.

The online fabric and form type-series brings this data together into one accessible research resource. For each type of pottery the database contains information on:

• Fabric
• Manufacture
• Forms
• Source
• Distribution
• Date

In addition there are magnified images of pottery sections to aid identification, together with bibiographical references for each fabric including cross references to other fabric series. The search engine facilitates general and detailed searches.

The database you can see now is just a small part of the whole project and will develop over the next two years. At the moment it only contains information on medieval fabrics but, when complete, it will include:

• Prehistoric, Roman and post-medieval fabrics (Roman fabrics by June 2003, prehistoric fabrics by December 2003, post-medieval fabrics by June 2004)
• Overviews of the ceramic history of the county
• A form type-series for each fabric with descriptions, images, dates and bibliographies
• Information on kiln sites, including text, dates, maps and bibliographies
• Descriptions and images of thin sections
• Photographs of typical sherds as well as sections
• Database of all the pottery assemblages in the county linked to the Historic Environment Record GIS

This digital resource will help researchers address the complex economic and social questions generated by the material, and has regional and national applications. At present this is a specialist database, but it is being developed for use in schools as well as in the wider community.

We are hoping that the project provides a model for the dissemination of resources using the web. The wider adoption of this model for regional or national fabric and form type-series would provide a resource flexible enough to cope with regional traditions but consistent enough to facilitate the study of widely distributed pottery types.

The fabric and form series was developed by the Archaeology Service of Worcestershire County Council. Its development as an online resource is being undertaken with the Ceramic Research Centre (a partnership between Worcester Archaeology Service and University College Worcester). The software was developed by OxfordArchDigital. It is a research resource which will support the Historic Environment Record for Worcestershire. For more information on the HER please visit our website.

Fig 2. Example of the form series

Fig 1. Example of general information in the fabric series.

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Regional Group Reports

Scottish Group

Ring vase

Ongoing excavations by SUAT Ltd at Horsecross in Perth have recovered a fragment of a glazed ceramic ring vase (see picture). This is the first such Scottish example known to the author and appears to be directly associated with the site of the medieval chapel of St. Laurence which stood on part of the site until the 16th century.

Minimum Standards

A recent seminar at Historic Scotland addressed several worrying trends identified by members of the Scottish Group during the fieldwork elements of the important review. This includes excavated ceramics not being marked prior to study and a general sloppiness in the naming of fabrics and their dating. The seminar was very successful and several suggestions at the best way forward are in the process of being addressed by the group.

C14 dates from shelly ware at Perth High Street

Derek Hall has now received all the dates from the sherds of carbonised shelly ware from this excavation. All of them fall consistently between the 9th and 11th centuries AD and would seem to indicate that the early phases of activity on this site are pre-burgal. The identification of these fabrics as being London-type shelly wares would now seem unlikely given such early dates, further research will be required.

Scottish contact

Secretary’s Notes

Council met at the Society of Antiquaries on 15th October. This was a full meeting with much ground covered. Much of the meeting was concerned with future plans, given our current financial situation. Fund-raising has been pursued as a matter of urgency since the AGM in May, and has been successful in raising a significant sum, largely from the MPRG membership, towards the publication of the next two volumes of Medieval Ceramics. The decision was therefore taken to go ahead with the production of Volume 24, and this should be ready in December (possibly mailed with this newsletter). The production of Volume 25 depends to a certain extent on the raising of further funds, but Council are optimistic that this can be achieved, and that the volume will appear in time for next year’s conference in May 2003. In future, publication grants for Medieval Ceramics will be sought more actively, and the option of selling volumes through outlets such as Oxbow may be pursued.

Extra revenue can be expected from the raised subscription rates (see the notice elsewhere in this newsletter, and the subscription renewal forms are also enclosed). Members can also help by signing and returning the Gift Aid forms circulated with the last newsletter. Meanwhile we aim to raise the MPRG profile and attract more new members by circulating a new publicity leaflet. This has been redesigned for us with new graphics by Chris Cumberpatch’s father and is extremely attractive. We hope to attract sponsorship for the production of the leaflet.

Council welcomed two new members – Jane Holdsworth takes over from Bob Will as Treasurer, and Derek Hall is our new Assistant Secretary (although Sue Anderson has very kindly agreed to continue maintaining the website). Both have been co-opted to Council, and their posts will be ratified at the next AGM. One of Jane’s first tasks will be to investigate the setting up of a Euro account in order to make it easier for Continental members to pay subscriptions and to buy MPRG publications.

Meanwhile our new Membership Secretary, Nigel Jeffries, has been working hard on checking the membership list for anomalies, incorrect addresses, etc. Current membership stands at just over 400; this includes around 20 new members who have joined in the past year, mainly through the website. There is still a lot of work to be done here, and Nigel would welcome any details of changes of address, etc to help him to keep the membership list up-to-date.

MPRG made a submission to APPAG (the All Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group, led by Lords Renfrew and Redesdale) last year, and will be represented (by Chris Cumberpatch and Nigel Jeffries) at the APPAG meeting at the Society of Antiquaries on 7th December.

Finally, thanks were given to Clare McCutcheon and all those involved in making the Dublin conference so successful and enjoyable. There is a short report on the conference elsewhere in this newsletter, plus an announcement of future conference plans from Duncan Brown.

The next Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 21st January; if you have any comments or wish to raise any issues, please contact me before then.

Lorraine Mepham, Secretary

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Notice of Subscription Rise

Members are reminded that annual subscriptions are due on the 1st of February, and subscription forms are enclosed with this newsletter. Following a vote at the AGM last May, subscription rates have risen, and are now at the following rates:

• Individual: £20 (formerly £10)
• Insitutional: £25 (formerly £13)

This is a substantial rise, and we accept that some members may feel unable to continue subscribing at the new rates, but we hope you will understand that increasing the Group’s income has become crucial given our current financial situation.

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The State we’re in: Pottery in Post-Roman Ireland

Report on conference held at Trinity College, Dublin, 2nd-4th September 2002

About 40 MPRG members, from Ireland, mainland Britain and the Continent, made the trip to Dublin at the end of August. They were well rewarded. The tone of the conference was set on the first evening, when Clare McCutcheon welcomed us with drinks, snacks and, later, homemade pasta and a cake kindly made by her mother (a second was to appear later in the conference!). Few conferences can offer such a personal touch.

Despite the Byzantine security arrangements, the rather daunting distance of the accommodation from both breakfast and conference venue, and the evening social arrangements (Duncan Brown and Deb Ford both celebrated birthdays during the conference), most of us made it through the two and a half days of lectures and visits. We learnt about the historical setting for medieval and post-medieval ceramic studies in Ireland, and about urban excavations in Dublin, Cork and Waterford. Ceramic interludes on the first day (easing us in gently) were provided by Audrey Gahan (Souterrain and Everted Rim Ware) and Clare McCutcheon (Medieval pottery in Ireland: a tale of three cities). Clare followed this on the second day by giving the Gerald Dunning Memorial lecture on the subject of ‘Continental pottery in Ireland in the Anglo-Norman period’. Dr Maureen McCorry gave a fascinating lecture on her fabric analysis of samples from the Downpatrick kiln, where she likened fabric ‘recipes’ to those of her own cakes (cake obviously constituted the leitmotif of the conference). Alan Vince discussed the chemical analysis of English and French whitewares in Ireland (vital to an understanding of the interplay between these various imported types), while Rosanne Meenan reviewed the state of play of post-medieval ceramic studies, and Peter Francis gave a marvellous exposition on Delftware in Ireland.

As well as lectures, Clare and her cohorts had organised a round of visits for us, starting with a reception at the National Museum of Ireland (a chance for many to pore over cases of medieval pottery and contest their provenance), and also including a chance to see recently excavated pottery from Smithfield in the north of the city, and a trip to Collins Barracks where Audrey Whitty discussed selected ceramics from the museum.

What came through most strongly from the conference, though, were the differences in the approach to post-Roman ceramic studies between Ireland and mainland Britain. This has much to do with the fact that an overwhelming proportion of the medieval pottery found in Ireland is imported (from mainland Britain or from the Continent). Indigenous pottery production did take place, and current research is making inroads on this subject, but much work remains to be done. The commitment of the Irish ceramic specialists, however, is not in doubt, and hopefully the links forged at this conference will enable them to gain more support from their mainland and Continental colleagues in the future.

Once again we must thank Clare and everyone else involved in the organisation of the conference, for making it such an enjoyable experience and offering such true Irish hospitality.

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MPRG Annual Meeting

Mix It, Risk It, Make It, Fake It.
The technology of medieval potting

Advanced notice and call for papers

The 2003 AGM will be held at Nottingham Castle Museum on Saturday the 14th of June at 12.00.

A one-day meeting will be held on the same day and place from c10.30 to 4.30, addressing the theme of the technology of medieval potting.

The intention is to put together a programme that tackles the issues of how we comprehend the ways in which pottery was made in the medieval period. We need to look at clay preparation, and the relationship with current methods of fabric definition; at techniques of construction, decoration and glazing; at firing methods. All these issues need to be considered in terms of how we reach an understanding of the medieval potter through the analysis of archaeological evidence.

Nottingham has been chosen as a venue largely because it is easily accessible and Council wish to return to the format of holding one-day meetings (in one of three or four regular venues) and three-day meetings in alternate years. It is, however, a particularly appropriate place in which to address this theme, and it is hoped that the excellent City archaeology collections will be available to inform our deliberations.

Papers are invited from those who make pottery, those who have analysed the technology of medieval ceramics and those who have tried to interpret technological attributes.

Please contact Duncan Brown, 7 Donnington Grove, Southampton, SO17 1RW.

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Meetings and Conferences

The Table. The Material Culture and Social Context of Dining in the Historical Periods

3rd-4th May 2003, Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield

The focus of this conference is the social practice of dining in the historical periods in Europe from the Roman period to the 18th century, drawing on artefactual, documentary and pictorial evidence for the consumption of food and drink in various historical, social and cultural contexts.

Issues that will be explored include:

• Dining milieu
• Social status and dining practices
• The production of dining paraphernalia
• Dining rituals
• Changing forms and styles of tableware
• Dining and social identity

For further details on the conference programme, speakers and to register please see online. Alternatively email Dr Hugh Willmott.

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Regional Group Meetings

SEMPER and East Anglia Group

The Autumn 2002 meeting was held at the Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury, on the theme of Ceramics from Urban Contexts.

Although the attendance was smaller than usual (about 13 people in all), this did not detract in any way from either the presentations of the speakers, or from the interesting discussions of the samples of pottery that members brought along. These pottery discussions are an important focus of our pottery meetings, and was proved so, when David Hall’s Ely kiln material was recognised as the same fabric as the medieval roof finial from Tempsford, Bedfordshire, that Anna Slowikowski had brought along!

The next meeting will be in the Spring, in Harlow, when we shall be looking at Medieval Pottery from Essex. This will be followed in the Autumn by another meeting in Aylesbury, the theme to be announced closer to the date. If you would like to go on the mailing list, please contact Anna Slowikowski, Albion Archaeology, St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Street, Bedford MK42 0AS, tel 01234 294005.

North African/Iberian Wine Sieve from fisherman’s net off the coast of Fife (courtesy National Museums of Scotland)

Scottish Group

A New Review of medieval pottery imported into Scotland from c1150 to c1650

Following the MPRG conference in Edinburgh in 2001 the Scottish group have been working on producing a new review of medieval pottery imported into Scotland. The City of Edinburgh council have agreed to sponsor this publication and we have been busy raising money from the likes of Historic Scotland, the Hunter Archaeological Trust and the Society for Medieval Archaeology to help cover specialists costs. The publication has been split into areas of production and each of these is being dealt with by a different specialist as follows: Yorkshire and East Anglia Charlie Murray; Stamford and the London area Derek Hall; South Western England Derek Hall; France George Haggarty; Germany Bob Will; Low Countries Naomi Crowley and Sarah Jennings; Spain and Italy Julie Franklin. John Hurst has agreed to write an introduction. Where feasible we have been visiting museum collections to record the various imported wares present as well as quantifying and checking all published material. This will be the first such survey since Lis Thoms published a list in Ceramics and Trade (1982).

Other points of interest

Kinlochbervie shipwreck (Spanish Armada?)

Several group members took advantage of Duncan Browns invitation to view the remarkable collection of Italian maiolicas and Olive jars from a shipwreck off Kinlochbervie in the Highlands. This material was the subject of a Time Team programme.

Imported pottery from 75 High Street, Perth

Derek Hall and George Haggarty are trying to organise the laying out and viewing of all the imported pottery from the excavations at 75 High Street, Perth (aka Marks and Spencers, PHSE). It is their intention to organise this for October and contact has already been made with those specialists who they would like to invite.

Unidentified greywares

A group of greywares from Perth have been compared with material from Jutland, Northern England and East Anglia using ICPS. There is some correlation with sherds from Woodbastwick and Kirstead (both East Anglia). However some material remains unsourced and further sampling needs to be carried out, particularly involving further samples from Denmark.

C14 dates from shelly wares at Perth High Street

Derek Hall has just received the first 6 C14 dates from the carbonised shelly wares from Perth High Street. They span the 9th to 11th centuries and would seem to confirm the long held view that the earliest activity recovered on that site is all pre-burghal (Perth was founded by David I c1140). There are another 9 dates to come and on receipt of these some consideration will need to be given to the true provenance of the sizeable group of shelly wares from this site (watch this space!).

Scottish contact

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Scarborough Wares

Peter Farmer and Anne Jenner are re-assessing Scarborough Wares and looking in particular at their distribution, types, date or associated pottery dates, documented dates and scientific dates and recent references.

They would like to ask fellow pottery specialists for any such information and would be grateful if people would email this to them.

 

Secretary’s Notes

The Group’s AGM was held in London as part of the one-day meeting on May 18th. Reports had been circulated beforehand, and discussion centred around the Group’s financial situation, and the potential effects of this on the future production of Medieval Ceramics. It has become apparent that the Group’s finances are not as healthy as they appear, since much of our current balance consists of income from sales of the Guide which, according to the conditions of the original English Heritage grant, cannot be used for anything except further publications within the Occasional Paper series. This has the obvious effect of limiting the resources available for publishing Medieval Ceramics, for which the two volumes (24 and 25) are currently going through the editorial process. Increasing the Group’s income has therefore become crucial, and Council has been discussing the possibility of a rise in subscription rates. Council proposed a rise from the current rate of £10/£13 to £15/£20, but the ensuing debate resulted in the proposal of a higher rate, of £20/£25, to take effect from February 2003.

Council pursued the raising of funds as a matter of urgency at the Council meeting held in London on June 20th, and are currently following up some of the options suggested, as well as ways of reducing costs for the distribution of Newsletters and journals. One cost reducing measure would be the electronic distribution of the Newsletter (see the appeal for email addresses below). In the meantime, it is still hoped to produce Volume 24 of Medieval Ceramics within the current subscription year, although publication of Volume 25 may have to wait until next year’s subscriptions are in.

To finish on a more positive note, Council would like to extend their thanks, and those of the Group, to our retiring President, Clive Orton who, it is hoped, will now have more time to pursue his multifarious research projects. Thanks also to Bob Will (Treasurer) and Sue Anderson (Assistant Secretary), both retiring but very kindly still filling their respective posts until replacements can be found; and to Alejandra Gutierrez (Ordinary Member). We are delighted to welcome to Council our new President, Maureen Mellor, who despite taking over the reins at a somewhat difficult time has already proved herself equal to the task, and a new (but very familiar!) Ordinary Member, Barbara Hurman. In addition, Council has decided to create a new Council post of Membership Secretary, to ease the Treasurer’s burden, and has co-opted Nigel Jeffries to the post.

We look forward to seeing as many members as can make it in Dublin for the long-anticipated conference (details on the MPRG website). The next Council meeting will be held on 15th October; if you have any comments or wish to raise any issues, please contact me before then. Ideas on fund-raising would be especially welcome.

Lorraine Mepham, Secretary

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MPRG Change of Address

Please note that the MPRG now has a new address for general correspondance. Museum of London Specialist Services has offered to host the group, as several of the staff are currently on the MPRG Committee. Council would like to thank David Barker and his colleagues at Stoke-on-Trent for the use of their address over the past few years.

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New Membership Secretary

At the last council meeting it was decided that Nigel Jeffries would be co-opted to the new Council position of Membership Secretary. His position will be ratified at the next AGM. Previously the task of Secretary was undertaken by the Treasurer but it was felt that these tasks should be separate, in keeping with the structure of most other Societies and Groups.

Nigel now has a full copy of the membership database and would like initially to stress that changes of address can be directed via the website. Over the coming months Nigel will be cleaning and updating the database and may be in contact with members whose details appear incomplete.

If members have had any problems with mailing or have recently changed address then please do not hesitate to contact him by email (via the website), post (by using the Group’s new address) or telephone (020 7566 9312). He is particularly keen in gaining the email address of membership (see below).

Nigel Jeffries
Museum of London Specialist Services
Tel: 020 7566 9312
Fax: 020 7490 3955

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Electronic Newsletter and Email Addresses

In order to reduce the costs of distributing the Newsletter, we are planning to circulate it electronically to as many members as possible who are on-line. If you have an email address, therefore, and do not object to receiving your Newsletter by this means, please send the details to our new Membership Secretary, Nigel Jeffries.

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Meetings and Conferences

Medieval Europe 2002

10th-15th September, Basel, Switzerland

The theme of next year’s conference is ‘Centre – Region – Periphery’. There are eight themes, which are as follows:

• Cultural regions, economic areas
• Innovation, communication, interaction
• Sovereignty and territory
• Structure and topography of the ruling power: Identity and demarcation
• Settlement in inhospitable regions
• The Regio TriRhena
• New studies of medieval and later archaeology in Europe (poster session)

The detailed programme and the (final) registration forms will be sent out in Autumn 2001 to all who have enrolled by 1st October 2001 via email, fax or post. Contact Medieval Europe Basel 2002, c/o Archaeologische Bodenforschung, Petersgraben 11, PO Box CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland. Fax +41-61-267 23 76, web www.mebs-2002.org.

Changing beliefs: aspects of conversion in the early medieval period

12th October, Sutton Hoo

The Sutton Hoo Society is holding a conference where speakers will address various aspects of landscape, religion, politics and culture associated with the Pagan/Christian interface in the Anglo-Saxon period. Details and application forms from The Sutton Hoo Society, c/o Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DJ (please enclose SAE).

Prehistoric pottery: people, pattern and purpose

12th-13th October, Bradford

The Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group and the Ceramic Petrology Group will be holding a joint conference entitled Prehistoric Pottery: People, Pattern and Purpose. at the University of Bradford. The conference is open to all. Further details are available from Alex Gibson, Chairman PCRG, Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP.

Potweb Meetings: Autumn Lecture Series

Ashmolean, Oxford

One of the world’s finest collections of ceramics – from East to West, from pre-historic to C20th – is held here at Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. PotWeb is an ambitious project to catalogue the collection online, bringing together the fruits of 150 years of historical and archaeological research. This series of lectures, given by a distinguished group of speakers, is in support of the project. Each lecture is at 2.30pm in the Headley Lecture Theatre, admission is free.

• Oct 13th Ancient Greek Pottery – Prof John Boardman
• Oct 27th English Country Pottery – Dr Peter Brears
• Nov 10th German Stoneware – Dr David Gaimster
• Nov 24th French Porcelain – Dr Aileen Dawson
• Dec 8th Lustre ware – Alan Caiger-Smith

For further information, or to reserve tickets, tel 01865 288073.

Finds Research Group 700-1700: Fairs and markets

19th-20th October, Edinburgh

The autumn 2002 meeting of the Finds Research Group 700-1700 will be hosted by Dr David Caldwell at The National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh. There will be guided tours of the Museum and the chance to explore Edinburgh on Sunday. Further details from Jenny Shiels or Jackie Moran, Medieval Department, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, tel 0131 247 4082, fax 0131 247 4060.

Kakiemon and its Influence on Continental and English Porcelain

2nd November, Oxford

A day school from 10.00am-4.00pm, Ashmolean, Oxford. Cost £35 (£30 Friends of the Ashmolean, £20 Full-time students), includes lunch and a glass of wine. This second Day of Special Interest focuses on the influences of Kakiemon porcelain across cultures. Lectures by expert Oliver Impey, Aileen Dawson and Simon Spero.

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Courses

The Making and Using of Medieval Pottery

A practical archaeology weekend will be held on 23rd-24th November 2002 at the Department of Continuing Education in Oxford, led by Maureen Mellor and Jim Keeling (master potter).

For the medieval period, huge quantities of pottery survive for the archaeological record. Form and decoration change. What stimulated the European potters? This course is designed for students who want to experience at first hand the processes involved in the making and decorating of post-Roman pottery vessels. We will explore the influences on the potter craftsmen and set these vessels in their historic environment. The course will culminate in an experimental firing. Numbers on this course will be limited to 24. Early application is strongly advised.

For further details, contact Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA, tel 01865 270360, fax 01865 270309, web www.conted.ox.ac.uk.

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Help

I am writing in the hope that MPRG members might be of assistance in identifying some peculiar pottery found at Ferryland, Newfoundland. The fabric is micaceous, the bases hand-formed and “sagging” or convex. The peculiar inverted lip may have been designed to prevent spilling or slopping while cooking at sea. We believe that the pots date from the early sixteenth century, but at Ferryland anything is possible. Thank you in advance for your trouble. I look forward to hearing from you. Jim Tuck.

          

Council News

Council met on 7 June at the Institute of Archaeology in London. This meeting was the first since the appointment of a new President (Clive Orton) and a new Secretary (Lorraine Mepham). Council expressed their thanks to the outgoing President and Secretary for their hard work over the past few years.

The report from the Editorial Committee was as full and varied as ever. Volume 21 of Medieval Ceramics is published and all members should have received their copies by now. Volume 22 is well advanced and should be published later in 1999. Several items have already been submitted for Volume 23, which may also contain an Index to Medieval Ceramics, one of the ideas mooted to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. Our first Occasional Paper, The Guide to the Classification of Medieval Ceramic Forms, is selling well – about 240 after the Sheffield Conference.

Other Occasional Papers, such as the volumes on Ipswich Ware and Trondheim Redwares, are still in progress. The Bibliography is well in hand. Council has promised to investigate the points raised at the AGM in Sheffield regarding the MPRG web-site, which some members have experienced difficulty in accessing.

Ann Jenner reported on the joint conference in Sheffield in May. This was a very successful event, and we should make a clear profit from it. Feedback so far, from both MPRG and Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group members, has been very positive and Anne is to be congratulated on the organisation of the Conference. It is hoped that the proceedings will be published, although the precise format remains to be decided.

Forthcoming conferences promise to be just as interesting. We have received invitations from both Dublin (via our Irish representative Clare McCutcheon), and Raeren. Council will be pursuing both these invitations, and various options have been suggested for our conference in 2000.

Preparations for our 25th anniversary celebrations continue, with the co-ordination of the ‘Pottery Supergroup’ postcard, and a competition for a new logo.

On the subject of Minimum Standards, there was nothing to report on the MPRG document, but following the presentation of a paper at the Sheffield Conference advocating joint minimum standards for all three national, period-based ceramic research groups (MPRG, PCRG and the Study Group for Roman Pottery), a working party will be formed to formulate a joint minimum standards document. Anna Slowikowski is the MPRG representative on this working party.

Members should note that in Beverley Nenk’s absence from the British Museum, our address has now been changed to “The Department of Scientific Research” at the Museum.

Our next council meeting will be in the autumn. This may be combined with an Extraordinary General Meeting, which will need to be called in order for the accounts for the last two years to be presented to members. It may be best to combine this with a suitable regional meeting. Members will be advised in due course of the date for such an EGM.

Lorraine Mepham, Secretary

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EGM

The EGM (see above) will probably be combined with the autumn meeting of SEMPER in October or November. Members will receive firm details nearer the date. SEMPER is organised by Anna Slowikowski, St. Mary’s Archaeology Centre, St. Mary’s Street, Bedford, MK42 0AS, tel 01234 270002.

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Regional Groups

SEMPER

See news on EGM above.

NWRMPRG

A meeting of the North-West Region MPRG was held on 10th July in the pleasant and interesting surroundings of the Maritime Museum in Lancaster. The day started with a discussion of recent MPRG matters and Chris Cumberpatch’s letter re regional surveys and fabric reference collections detailed in the last MPRG newsletter. Alan Vince described his recent work on whitewares in the north-east and the rest of the day was spent looking at and discussing pottery from production sites at Silverdale, Ellel and Bilsborrow as well as excavated assemblages from Lancaster and Kendal. Thanks go to Andrew White, Lancaster Museums for hosting the day.

Julie Edwards (NWRMPRG).

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New Editorial Team

At the last AGM of the MPRG, held during the group’s annual conference in Sheffield in May, a new editorial team for Medieval Ceramics was elected. This heralded an arrangement which represents something of a new departure for the journal, whereby the ‘transfer of power’ from the outgoing co-editors to the new incumbents is staggered over an interim period of one year. This will allow the valuable experience gained from production of the previous five years’ worth of journals to be passed on to the newcomers in a way which we hope will benefit Medieval Ceramics and its readers. The new ‘team’ consists of Jacqui Pearce as co-editor, with Mike Hughes and Katherine Barclay remaining as joint co-editors until the next AGM of the group in May 2000, when we will be looking for a new full co-editor. Jennie Stopford was elected as the new Assistant Editor.

Production of Volume 22 has been rather delayed, but, as the last journal for which Mike Hughes and Katherine Barclay are responsible in their term of office, is continuing under their editorship. They are continuing to regain lost ground and between them Volumes 22 and 23 will attempt to bring the journal back to a regular publication date in the late Spring of each year. Therefore, the deadline for copy for Volume 23 is September 1st 1999 (main articles). Notes, reviews and conference reports should be with the editors by November 1st. Copies of the Notes for Contributors may be obtained from the editors and their use is strongly urged.

We are keen to encourage a wide range of contributions from members and others, dealing with all kinds of ceramics from the Saxon, medieval and early post-medieval periods (up to c1700). This includes production and building materials, as well as vessels of an infinite variety of forms (as demonstrated by the MPRG Guide to the Classification of Medieval Pottery Forms). All contributions will be considered on their own merits, and main articles will be subject to peer review. If, however, you have a smaller contribution to make, you might like to consider submitting it for inclusion in Compendiario. This provides an ideal forum for the exchange of ideas and information on individual items and groups of interest, or for the publication of interim notes and even offers the opportunity to draw attention to unusual pots which may be difficult to identify and parallel. The editors welcome all contributions, although they reserve the right to direct authors elsewhere when appropriate.

Please direct all texts for and correspondence regarding volume 23 to Jacqui Pearce, Hon Editor Medieval Ceramics, c/o Museum of London Specialist Services, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 7EE, tel 020 7566 9325

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Meetings and Conferences

Archaeological Ceramic Building Materials Group

The inaugural meeting of the group will be on Saturday 9th October at Carey Baptist Chapel Rooms, Hackleton, Northamptonshire. It will include papers on medieval roof furniture, Piddington Roman Villa tiles, and Essex brick, as well as an afternoon session on recording standards. Cost is £2 members, £5 non-members, and £3 for buffet lunch (cheques payable to ‘ACBMG’). For further details contact Sandra Garside-Neville, Secretary ACBMG, 63 Wilton Rise, York YO24 4BT, web www.tegula.freeserve.co.uk/acbmg/oct.htm.

Society for Clay Pipe Research Annual Conference

The 1999 annual conferece will be held on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th October at Ludlow, Shropshire. Following the usual format, the Saturday will be devoted to displays and lectures by members on various aspects of their current research. Full details are yet to be finalised, but the papers and displays will include details of recent research in the Ludlow area; recent excavations at a communal late 17th to early 18th century kiln facility at Pipe Aston, Herefordshire; a Civil War assemblage from Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire; an early 17th century kiln from Chester and a 17th century industry at Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire.

Delegates are encouraged to bring along material for discussion and identification. For those staying until Sunday, there will be a guided tour of the history and archaeology of the town and further opportunity for informal discussion.

There is a small fee of £5 to cover the conference costs – all are welcome. For further details and bookings please contact Dr Allan Peacey, 110 Cainscross Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4HN.

7th International Congress on the Medieval Ceramics of the Mediterranean

At Thessaloniki from 11th to 16th October. Seventy papers and over 40 posters have been offered under the main themes of: Between East and West: Byzantine ceramics C10th-15th, methods of production and distribution; From Rome to Byzantium, from Fostat to Cordoue: C5th-9th; Maghreb, Machrek and West. Contact BP 17517, GR-540 09 Thessaloniki, Greece, tel 30 31 868 570.

5th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (EMAC 99)

The main scope of the meeting, to be held in Athens on 18th-20th October, is the presentation and discussion of recent developments in the field of ceramic studies, with special emphasis on integrated approaches of scientific and archaeological/typo-logical methods. There are also five proposed topics: methodological considerations; chemical, physical and mineral-ogical characterisation for provenance and techno-logy; study of kiln material and reconstruction of kiln function; data handling; developments on dating.

Contact: EMAC 99, c/o Laboratory of Archaeometry, Institute of Materials Science, NCSR Demokritos, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Attiki, Greece, tel +30-1-6503392, fax +30-1-6519430

Textile Working Implements

A one-day seminar of the Finds Research Group AD700-1700, to be held at Queen Anne’s School, Bootham, York on Monday 25th October.

For further information, contact Penelope Rogers, Textile Research in Archaeology, 8 Bootham Terrace, York, YO30 7DH, tel 01904634585.

Current Approaches to Medieval Archaeology

Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, 15th-16th April 2000. There is a call for abstracts for papers based on current research on the following themes: Archaeology and History; Scientific methods and applications in Medieval Archaeology; Architecture; The Construction of Identity; Landscape and Settlement; Artefact Studies. Offeres are also invited from anyone wishing to organise a session on any other topic.

Please send paper abstracts and session proposals to: Current Approaches to Medieval Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Uiversity of Durham, The Science Site, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, email med.conf@durham.ac.uk, web www.dur.ac.uk/~drk8zz1/.

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Volunteers required to help with sale of books

Volunteers would be welcome to take copies of The Guide to Medieval Ceramic Forms, Medieval Ceramics volumes etc to conferences. If you are going to an archaeological or medieval history conference and can carry a few copies, please contact Alison Turner-Rugg on 01727 751819.

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Stamped Romano-Saxon pottery: information wanted

1. Do you know the whereabouts of William I Roberts IV and have an address for him – email, snail-mail, telephone or fax? He wrote a book called Romano-Saxon Pottery, published as No.106 in the BAR British Series in 1982.

2. Are you aware of any stamped Romano-Saxon pottery lurking in museums / unit archives / private collections / unpublished excavations? I am particularly interested in anything that has been discovered and/or published after 1980. Obviously I am aware of everything that appears in Roberts’ book, and I also have casts of the pots in Moyses Hall, Bury St Edmunds. I am interested in Romano-Saxon pottery wherever it is now, but its original provenance must be from Britain, so I’m not looking for information about Romano-Saxon pottery from the continent. By stamped, I mean where the decoration has been impressed into the wet clay using a die and subsequently fired. My dissertation will not (I think) cover freehand, “graffiti”-type decoration or “intaglio”-type stamps, such as are found on Samian ware. The aim of the dissertation is to compare the stamps from the earlier period (pre AD 410 and the departure of the Roman administration, if one must put a date on it), with the stamps from the same locale from the main Anglo-Saxon period to see if there is any correlation and/or continuity. The Archive of Anglo-Saxon Pottery Stamps has been able to demonstrate that certain stamp designs do have a regional bias. I want to see if (pace Richard Reece) the Britons are reverting or if it’s a whole new fashion/trend.

Please reply to me, Diana Briscoe, Archive of Anglo-Saxon Pottery Stamps, 124 Cholmley Gardens, London NW6 1AA. Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

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Exhibition

20,000 Pots sous les Mers Рle commerce de la c̩ramique en Provence et Languedoc du Xe au XIXe s

An exhibition organised by the Laboratoire d’Archéologie Médiévale Méditerranéenne d’Aix-en-Provence (CNRS) and the Département de Recherches Archéologiques Subaquatiques et Sous-Marines, will be on display from 27th May to 28th November at the museum, Place du Puits neuf, 13800 Istres (tel 04 42 55 40 08). It covers 1000 years of ceramic history on the Mediterranean, including both rare and everyday objects imported long-distance or from nearby villages.

A catalogue, by H Amouric, F Richez and L Vallauri, of about 200 pages and costing about 200F, will be published by Edisud, La Calade, RN 7, 13090 La Calade, Aix-en-Provence, France, tel 04 42 21 61 44.

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New Books

Maiolica in the North: The Archaeology of Tin-Glazed Earthenware in North-West Europe c1500-1600.

David Gaimster (ed). British Museum Occasional Paper No. 122, A4, 194 pages, £25.

A flier about this book should be enclosed with your newsletter. Papers in Part 1 cover the background to Italian maiolica and its influence on the Low Countries, production in Antwerp and North and South Netherlands, scientific analysis, documentary evidence, and 16th century imported material in Britain and Ireland. Part 2 consists of eleven case studies of archaeological finds in England, including London, Hampshire and the South-West. Papers cover not only pottery but also floor tiles and a stove. Contributors include David Gaimster, Timothy Wilson, Hugo Blake, Claire Dumortier, Michael Hughes, John Hurst, Jan Baart, Johan Veeckman, Julie Edwards, Alejandra Gutiérrez, Duncan Brown, John Allan, John Cotter, Chris Gerrard, Ian Betts and Jean Le Patourel.

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Medieval Imports – brief report on a course

Imported Medieval Pottery, an English Heritage sponsored course at the Dept of Archaeology, University of Southampton, April 1999.

This two-day course, with tutors Duncan Brown and Alan Vince, was the perfect introduction to the medieval pottery of the Rhineland, Low Countries, France, Iberia, Italy and the Mediterranean. There were introductions to the geology of the relevant areas by David Williams, and plenty of hands-on sessions with fine examples of most wares readily available from Southampton Museum’s collection. Company, course dinner and accommodation were all excellent as well.

If you want to attend a course of this type (I strongly recommend it!), write to Sarah Jennings at CAS, Fort Cumberland, Eastney, Portsmouth, PO9 4LD, fax 01705 838060.

Sue Anderson

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