Alan Caiger-Smith 1930-2020

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A friend contacted me this week to let me know another great post-war potter, Alan Caiger Smith, had recently passed away at 90. His life was one of astonishing achievements both in pot making and writing. I met him as a young student in England in the 1970s. At the time he was president of the British Craft Center and the director of Aldermaston Pottery in Berkshire. He had also recently written the well-received book “Tin Glazed Pottery”. Alan Caiger-Smith’s soft-spoken nature and intelligence were hallmarks of his warm personality and as students, we were certainly in awe of his outstanding work. He was working in an ancient technique of creating vibrant luster glazes from reduction firing metal pigments on tin-glazed earthenware. With his team at Aldermaston, he had built custom wood-burning kilns to achieve the deep rich luster glaze effects.

In the era of the understated Japanese-Anglo Leach aesthetic, his work was very different for the time; colorful and bright and simply dazzling. Many of his glaze recipes were based on Islamic and Italian glaze recipes that were hundreds of years old. Alan Caiger-Smith worked diligently over many years to perfect his technique and his famous dynamic glazes. Even then his work was widely collected and continued to be sought after throughout his lifetime. Bailey’s Mystery Pot 14 was made by Alan Caiger-Smith. When we finally reopen our doors, you can see it in our office front hallway.

I am often asked how I came to know and meet so many great English potters. I lived and studied ceramics in England for almost four years. Many of those great potters walked through the doors of the art college I attended. It no longer exists under its former name but has become part of the University of Westminster in London. The Ceramics Department is now headed by the celebrated potter and writer, Edmund de Waal. I have corresponded with Edmund on a few occasions. You will find his work too in the front case at Bailey. So when you come back to visit in the not too distant future and see work by Wally Keeler, Colin Pearson, the Leaches, and even Michael Cardew, that is why. Those were heady times for a young, impressionable, ceramic art student. I am happy to say the Bailey Contemporary Ceramic Collection continues to grow and next week we will share some of our recent acquisitions.

We send warm wishes and our sympathy to Alan Caiger-Smith’s family and all that knew him. Please read the obituary in the Guardian to learn more about this extraordinary potter.

Anne Bailey

Alan Caiger Smith-Making Lustre Pottery.avi

Alan Caiger Smith demonstrating his technique for making lustre pottery.

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