The National Museum of Australian Pottery, Australia’s first museum dedicated to 19th and early 20th century Australian pottery, is looking for a permanent home. Established in 1995, the National Museum of Australian Pottery became the first fully accredited private museum in Australia, under the Museum Accreditation Program (MAP), in 1998.
The collection, put together over the past 25 years by Geoff and Kerrie Ford, now stands at over 950 domestic pottery pieces from some 100 companies throughout Australia. Examples range from early European settlement to the end of the First World War and the collection is still growing.
Geoff Ford has earned respect throughout Australia as the leading authority on Australian pottery and has self published six books on the subject. He has worked with curators cataloguing several State museum collections. For his years of work in this field, Geoff was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2001. His reputation as a collector with a keen eye has enabled him and Kerrie to accumulate a unique and important collection.
Their collection includes pieces from three known, successful convict potters whose wares are the earliest surviving marked pottery produced in Australia.
“I took the opportunity of visiting Geoff and Kerrie Ford’s National Museum of Australian Pottery recently,” said Curator of Applied Arts at the Queensland Museum, Dr Judith McKay. “This collection, the nation’s largest and most significant collection of 19th century Australian pottery, exceeded even my expectations. It is a wonderful asset and a drawcard for pottery enthusiasts and historians from around Australia.
“The collection is made even more valuable because of Geoff Ford’s unrivalled knowledge of Australian pottery and his ongoing interest. His book Australian Pottery: The First 100 Years, is the standard text in this field, consulted by museum curators and private collectors alike. Geoff has been engaged by my own museum to advise on the care and cataloguing of our pottery. I think it is important that the collection remains intact and I express my hope that it will soon find a permanent home, where its future is assured.”
Councils interested in the opportunity to offer a permanent home for this unique museum collection, and seeking further information, can contact Geoff and Kerrie Ford at the present museum in their home at 66 South Street, Wodonga, Victoria, 3690 or phone/fax (02) 6056 3152.
