BBC HD

Ceramics: A Fragile History

Ruth Wilson

David Vincent

Jonty Claypole

Ceramics: A Fragile History: Episode 1: The Story of Clay

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

The Story of Clay

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Story of Clay

BBC Four - Ceramics: A Fragile History, The Story of Clay

A look at the history of domestic pottery in Britain from Tudor times onwards.

A look at the history of domestic pottery in Britain from Tudor times onwards, examining what it can tell us about how preceeding generations lived.

Ceramics are where art meets function - one of our oldest and most fundamental art forms, that sits at the centre of our homes. The first film in this three-part series looks at a history of domestic pottery in Britain from Tudor times onwards, tracing the evolution of its different techniques and styles, and examining what our pots can tell us in intimate detail how preceeding generations lived and saw themselves. 

Whether it's for celebrating birth, marriage and death (our own or royal), eating and drinking or showing the world our social status, ceramics contain more than just our tea or coffee - they contain something of our lives, our social DNA, and reveal a lot about our taste and habits as a nation. They become, in effect, snapshots in clay. 

Contributors include David Attenborough, Edmund de Waal, Grayson Perry, Lucy Worsley, Mary Wondrausch and Elspeth Owen.

BBC Four

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Three-part series looking at the history of pottery in Britain

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Ceramics: A Fragile History

Episode 1: The Story of Clay

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