Book Reviews Mary Mary Wondrausch on Slipware , . Hardcover, Colour Photos, $40.00U8 Pub, The American Ceramic Society and A & C Black Publishers Ltd., December 2001 ISBN: 1-57498-149-8 Wondrausch's authoritative look at slipware gives us a complete background on painterly ceramic trends across Europe from Medi- eval times to the present day, In this revised reprint the author asserts that “Earthenware is the most difficult of all ceramic disciplines. It can be compared to working in watercolour as opposed to oiL Everything that you do is final, irrevocable. Fixed in the kiln are all the accidents of glaze application that can be so exciting in stoneware, but in low-fire red clay are a disaster.” In this classic, supplemented with plenty of colour images, the author walks us through the aesthetics, historical import and current cultural trends of slipware. Divided into three sections, The Practice, The History, and Business Affairs, Wondrwusch presents a broad spectrum of pomarily English, but also other traditional European slipwares, The Histery chapter is by far the most interesting, with a particu- larly intriguing section on clay and the written word. She has. assembled ten pages of transcriptions of slip-trailed or incised writing on various pots from a wide range of cultural settings. For example, an unidentified pot from 1708 on which was inscribed an ever so lyrical declaration: “As aring is round/ and hath no end/ so is my love! unto my friend”, or the more ribald rhyme on a chamber pot; “Use me well and keep me clean/ Ill not say what I have seen.” These writings tell us a lot about the societies the pots were made for, and also a lot about a role that ceramics and potters no longer play in our culture. Wondrausch addresses this and other sociological aspects of slipware in a section within the historical chapter entitled The Demise of the Rural Potteries. Here she informs us that the commemorative function of slipware is the major reason why these wares have survived to present day, Families and commu- nities have kept the wares as treasures not simply because of their technical mastery and beauty, but because the pots themselves comain both emotional and cultural significance for the people they were made for. Following the historical overview of the ware, Wondrausch then examines the revival of slipware in current times. She focuses primarily on selling to modern consumers; her references to clay, materials and glaze recipes are strictly geared to the British potter. Despite this, anyone working in carthenware, or interested in the painterly wares of contemporary ceramics, will find the whole book an interesting read. Particularly here in a province where the ceramics have been dubbed “vigorous and shiny, BC potters will enjoy tracing the roots of their exuberant colourful aesthetic, October 2002 Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter Pioneer Pottery by Michael Cardew Co-published by A & C Black London and The American Ceramic Society 2002 352 pages Black/ White, Colour plates $45.00U8 ISBN 0-7136-5945-9 Pioneer Pottery EEE Many of us have read and still treasure Leach's The Potter's Challenge. Wereferto Rhodes’ s Clay and Glazves for the Potter and Hopper's The Ceramic Spectrum when lapses in memory over the function of ingredi- ents dnive us back to the studio library. Other books we read over and over for the sheer pleasure of reminding ourselves why we ever became potters in the first place. One of these books is Michael Cardew's Pioneer Pottery. Commemorating the 100" anniversary of Cardew's birth, this classic was re-released as aco-publication of A & C Black and the Amencan Ceramic Society in a hardcover format. It features a section of photographs of both Cardew's own studio in England as well as several potters, pots and kilns in Africa where Cardew spent twenty-three glonous years. Pioneer Pottery draws on these years in Africa“... a potter's heaven” as well as those spent with his mentor, Bernard Leach. [It covers the technical as well as aesthetic and even philosophical aspects of making pottery, In the introduction by Cardew’s son, Seth, he informs us that many references to materials, equipment and organizations are outdated but were included just as they were written in the original publication ‘for posterity’. There are very few dated aspects of this book and it remains a relevant and engaging read for anyone interested in the subject, [tis an overview of the craft with chapters covering the topics of Geology, Pottery Bodies, Making Pots, The Kiln, and finally, The Proeict. This last chapter is a refreshing and inspiring essay which Cardew begins by declaring that “The training of a potter is a process limited only by the span of his life.” His elegant and poetic prose is charged with enthusiasm and bove for the medium and it reads like a sage grandfather's advice that will inspire generations to come. Rachelle Chinnery 1. De Carol Mayer, Curator of Ceramics aed Ethoology at the Museum of Anthropology, Usiversiry of Braish Cobumbia, essay tited Vigorous & Shdny in Made ef Clay: Ceramics of British Columbia, Wanooaver: Potters Guild of BC, 1998, pp. 1-16.