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"early photography"
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Photograph of decorator at Buchans pottery, 1963
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Photograph of decorator at Buchans pottery, 1963
Photograph of decorator at Buchans pottery, 1963
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Museums & Galleries Item
Item no
52368
Title
Black and white photograph of a painter decorator at Buchans pottery, c.1960s
Description
One black and white photograph print of a female painter decorator working at the A, W. Buchan & Co. pottery at Portobello in the 1960s or early 1970s. She is shown painting a thistle on to a vase on a wheel, with two other vases on it in various stages of completion. She is holding her brush in her right hand, but using her left hand to steady her other hand. On the bench in front are brushes, glaze pots and other items of pottery. On the back in pencil in pen is written "C15/11".
Accession number
TIN467.001
As part of the Auld Reekie Retold collections project, 2019-2022, four ex-employees of the Buchans company were invited to look at the collection of photographs and pottery items at the Museums Collections Centre. This photograph was discussed. The previous decorators said it was quite rare to work with items on a wheel as in this picture, even suggesting it may have been staged for photography. One said that this may have been how this particular lady liked to worked, working on one particular element or glaze at a time.
In the foreground are small pots of glaze. Painters were given a set of glazes for the particular design they were working on. The Buchan company had a range of set designs with evocative names such as "Brittany", "Iona", "Bluebell", and perhaps their most famous, the "Thistle" pattern.
Exhibitions with this item
Auld Reekie Retold ; New Stories of an Old City
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