About this Journal

Welcome to Issue 6 of Interpreting Ceramics . In addition to articles and reviews, this issue contains a special supplement devoted to the British potter Michael Casson who died in December 2003. We are grateful to Emmanuel Cooper for providing an appreciation of his life and work and to Michael Casson's family for their assistance in the preparation of this supplement. The supplement mainly consists of transcripts of video and audio recordings produced for the Ceramic Archive at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and by NEVAC (National Electronic and Video Archive of the Crafts) at University of the West of England, Bristol. Some of the transcripts are accompanied by audio clips which help to give a fuller picture of Michael Casson's enthusiasm and dedication to his chosen craft. There are also three summaries, in note form, of a long tape-recorded interview conducted in 2000, which is available to consult in its original form at Aberystwyth.

The articles in this issue once again cover a wide range of subjects and interests. Christine Longworth discusses stylistic aspects of some of the pottery produced over many centuries in and around Buckley in North Wales and she extends her discussion to include the social and economic circumstances of the potters. Matthew Partington's article explores a very different world - that of the London coffee bars of the 1950s and 1960s, with their innovative architectural features made in ceramic. Drawing on examples from Africa and Asia, Moira Vincentelli takes a hard look at some of the development projects involving ceramics which now occur in many parts of the world. The fourth article is in the form of a transcript of a previously unpublished lecture by Michael Cardew given in Edinburgh in 1938. We are very pleased to make this valuable historical text available and we are grateful to Seth Cardew for giving us permission to reproduce it. The transcript is prefaced by an introduction by Jeffrey Jones.

We also have book reviews in this issue and, on a sadder note, we include an obituary of Alan Barrett Danes, who died in October 2004. This obituary gives an indication of the breadth of skills and talents of this remarkable man who influenced many people through his work and teaching at Cardiff School of Art and Design.

Lastly, we hope that many of you will be interested to read more about our 'Speak for Yourself' project and perhaps think about submitting something for the writing competition, with prizes offered for the best submissions - see the 'Speak for Yourself' button for further details of the competition and a day seminar at Bath Spa University College organised for September 16 th 2005.

Interpreting Ceramics is an initiative of a group of academic staff in the UK who have joined together under the title of Interpreting Ceramics: Research Collaboration (ICRC). Our collaboration has come about through shared research interests in recording, interrogating, interpreting and communicating the practice and history of ceramics.

The members of ICRC are committed to exploring ways in which collaborative effort, on both a national and international level, can lead to broader and more interdisciplinary research into all those categories of human activity which are indicated by the term 'ceramics'. ICRC has an interest in any practice or mode of inquiry which brings a social and cultural awareness to bear on the manufacture and consumption of objects made from ceramic materials. The fields covered would therefore include studio, industrial, architectural, traditional, sculptural and figurative ceramics as well as the relevant branches of anthropology, archaeology, material culture studies, museum studies, archiving etc.

The journal Interpreting Ceramics is the first outcome of the collaborative work of ICRC. It is the first refereed, electronic journal for ceramics and in publishing on the Internet the journal allows contributors to exploit the possibilities of new digital media as well as offering more traditional text based approaches. The journal is freely accessible, without charge. We aim to establish and maintain the highest scholarly standards for the content of the articles published. Four institutions have joint proprietorship of the journal and they are the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, the University of the West of England, Bristol and Bath Spa University College.

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