May Featured Video

STAFFORDSHIRE HOSPITALITY: "KEPT IN THE BEST STYLE."

Title: Staffordshire Hospitality: An Exploration of StaffordshireTransferware Made for and Used by the Hospitality Trade

Lecturer: Ben Miller, Assistant Curator of Ceramics, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, England

Description: Ben’s lecture explored the 300-year history of North Staffordshire ceramics created for the hospitality industry: Ceramics that have helped to quench the thirst and fill the bellies of inn and tavern patrons, cleanse hotel guests, supply banqueting halls, and cater for travellers on land, sea, and in the air.

Our Speaker: Ben Miller has worked with ceramics collections since 2012 starting his career at The Wedgwood Museum before moving on to The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. He completed his BA at Keele University between 2006 and 2009 and his MA at Birmingham University’s Ironbridge Institute in 2010. From 2012 to 2015 he worked as a Museum Assistant at The Wedgwood Museum during which time was able to research a wide variety of topics across the Wedgwood collection and archive. In 2015 he joined the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery as Assistant Curator of Ceramics and has since worked on several exhibitions and given talks to a number of collectors’ groups. His passion lies in Staffordshire ceramics from the 18th century to the present with a particular interest in 19th and 20th century factory production, overseas trade, and design.