Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Since the earliest times women have made pottery and clay sculptures, and they have cooked, carried water, stored and served food in pottery. They have used ceramics in domestic rituals and decorative display. In her wide-ranging discussion of this subject, Moira Vincentelli examines some of the great female ceramic traditions such as Pueblo pottery and considers the notable success women have had over the last century from Susie Cooper and Eva Zeisel in design to individual ceramic artists such as Lucie Rie and Magdalene Odundo. She also shows how women have left their mark in the field of ceramics as writers, teachers, business women, gallery owners and collectors.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of illustrations (p. ix)
• Acknowledgements (p. xiii)
• 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• 2 Ancient times (p. 9)
• 3 Gender, technology and technique (p. 33)
• 4 Into the spotlight: female tradition and individuality (p. 58)
• 5 The decorative woman (p. 77)
• 6 Women, collecting and display (p. 106)
• 7 Working together (p. 132)
• 8 Supporting roles: women as patrons, promoters, writers and teachers (p. 162)
• 9 Running the business (p. 193)
• 10 Gender, identity and studio ceramics (p. 220)
• 11 Conclusion - the gendered vessel (p. 254)
• Bibliography (p. 259)
• Index (p. 279)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

"The art of pottery is a feminine invention. The original potter was a woman," (Briffault, 1927). Inspired by French cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu and other contemporary scholarly erudites, Vincentelli (Univ. of Wales, Aberystwyth) offers an astutely inspirational book. She rightly ascertains that "we judge from our own knowledge and world view and assume it to be universal, but it is important to look behind these certainties. There is no simple truth, but theory helps to problematise the search for a fuller understanding of the world." In 11 illustrated chapters with discerning and lengthy endnotes, and a comprehensive bibliography, she examines the cultural category of ceramics with an interdisciplinary perspective, including archeology of ancient times, art history, anthropology, design, and technology. She succeeds masterfully because her writing is based on maturely wise personal experiences as a Welsh art historian and curator of ceramics. Vincentelli argues strongly "that there are far more subtle relationships between different categories of ceramics than is often imagined." She is very sharp, explaining that the issue of gender is crucial in feminist art history. The hierarchy of the Western division between art and craft serves to devalue what women do and associate men with art and women with craft. Highly recommended. Graduate students; faculty. I. Spalatin; Texas A&M University-Commerce

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Moira Vincentelli is Lecturer in Art History and Curator of Ceramics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth