A 
ISIT
TO
-
The Whitechapel Pottery
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TUCKED AWAY IN A small side street beside the Victorian
grandeur of the 
London
Hospital is a treasure of East End Enterprise - the blue and white shop
front of The Whitechapel Pottery. The Pottery , originally a Victorian cobbled
alley where horses once pulled carts out of a saw mill and warehouse into
the busy Whitechapel road, is now a bright and modern glass and wood gallery;
shining with displays of blue, white and gold jugs, pots, mugs and bowls.
Walk through and into the neat office to find the tidy workshop with its
Potter's Wheel and Kiln, shelves filled with pots and plates matt from drying
and the first firing. Waiting solidly and patiently for the Potter's brush
to add the last beautifying touch and glaze before for the final firing.
THE POTTERY IS OWNED and managed by Liz and Frances;
nearly 20 years of a togetherness which melds so nicely together that you
would think this was a partnership made in heaven. They met up when they
were both 19 in 1980 at Warwick University whither Liz had gone to study
The History of Art and Frances to immerse herself in Eng. Lit . Liz is the
Potter whose hands-on skill and artistry turns the grey slabs of clay into
creations that would not sit ill in many of the Stately Homes of England;
and Frances is the busy gallery Manager and Publicity Agent - and at the
same time writer and poet.
SINCE
SHE WAS 14 and at school Liz always wanted to be a potter; after University
she decided to learn her skills from good old fashioned experience rather
than traditional study and training. Together they opened their first pottery
in West Hampstead in 1985 - with the help of The Enterprise Allowance Scheme
- then left London in 1989 to move to Wisbech. Coming back to London in
1996 the first sight of what was to become the Whitechapel Pottery is recalled
in amusement. "It was derelict. Dirty and filled with old machinery - we
had to do everything, lay bricks, rewire, plumb and paint ! " Liz says,
adding "Frances wasn't too sure at the time !" Frances ruefully agrees that
the vision did mostly come from Liz. "But then it all worked out splendidly"
she grins.
AND SO it did. The Whitechapel Road is a stone's throw
from the centre of 
London;
Jack the Ripper turf and Kray Country. The blitz is a living memory. On
the right side of the law remain still the Missions of the Salvation Army,
and the squat Chapels of the Reformed Churches. Adding spice and diversity
is the colourfully culturally mixed half mile of the Whitechapel Road Market.
This vibrant and busy area of East London still breezes with the energy
of 300 years of history; a working Pottery could not be better placed for
London living, artistic creativity and brisk business.
LIZ DESIGNS AS well as making the pieces, her style
is particularly distinctive and eye catching. She has exhibited in many
London venues and her work is frequently reviewed in the national local
and pink press. You can visit the Pottery at 2A Mount Street, London
E1 1BA from Tuesday to Saturday between 11.00AM and 6.00PM . There is
always a good choice of pots in stock and Liz is delighted to receive commissions
for special occasions.
FRANCES HAS written a book of poems, images and prose
called "Mothertongue" which is available in a limited handmade edition .
She is a contributor to the DIVA Book of Short Stories as well as featuring
in a new anthology of lesbian writing "Long Journey Home shortly to be published
by The Women's Press. She is seriously interested in Victorian Music Halls
and the then popular Male Impersonators - such as Vesta Tilley, Hetty King
and Ella Shields.
For more details visit http://www.hiddenart.co.uk/
or email whitechapelpottery@talk21.com
photo of Frances and Liz by Jean
Fraser
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From Old
Dyke 6, November 2000
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