Photograph of a Decorators at Buchans Pottery, 1960s

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52371

Title

Black and white photograph of a painter decorators at Buchans pottery, 1960s

Description

One black and white photograph print of female painter decorators working at the A, W. Buchan & Co. pottery at Portobello in c. 1963. The image shows two painters facing the camera sat at a bench painting items of pottery on a wheel. The woman at the front is painting a dish, and the one at the back of the image is painting a mug. The desk that are sat at is full of brushes, brush holders, items of pottery and glaze pots. In the background on the right is another bench with women working. The back has written in pen "C15/10", and "TEN".

Accession number

TIN467.003

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, and how the painters sometimes chose to decorate multiple items on the wheel at once, drawing individual elements at a time on each piece.

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.

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Photograph of a decorators at Buchans pottery, 1960s