I arrived in Stoke earlier than I expected on Tuesday, so I went for a visit around the Stoke Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. Obviously there was a lot of Pottery on display. I came round one corner and had to laugh. It was like a corner of Tutankamun’s tomb or the Terracotta Army’s Farmyard. Row upon row of cow shaped creamer were piled into a display cabinet as if ready to go to war on unskimmed milk. Rather fabulous, as were many of the other exhibits. As with these things it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. So much spectacular china on display that it becomes hard to see the individual pieces, but I realised that I do have a soft spot for naive slipware.

I bought a bread mixing bowl at auction once. Everyone thought I was mad paying a fiver for it, but i speaks to me and looks so like the the bowls on display in the museum except that it has a machined rope-finish edge which makes it look machine manufactured, but I’m convinced it’s hand made otherwise. Perhaps I should take it along to the Antiques Road show one day, and find out what it really is.