Five leading galleries in Liverpool will host exhibitions on the life and work of the celebrated and popular Liverpool artist Julia Carter Preston (1926-2012), known for her distinctive ceramics. The programme, ‘Celebrating Julia Carter Preston, Ceramicist’ starts on Friday 11th September and includes a symposium looking at her art and its significance to postwar British ceramics.
Julia Carter Preston was recognised for the role she played in reviving the technique of sgraffito in the twentieth century. With ancient origins and popularised in Renaissance Italy, sgraffito involves scratching through a coating of clay slip on a surface to reveal an underlying layer, creating contrasting decoration.
Carter Preston used this technique to brilliant effect, often using metallic lustre glazes on a wide range of ceramics – bowls, plates, jars, tiles, even a complete dinner service. She was in great demand, commissioned to create plaques and other pieces to commemorate anniversaries or celebrate special occasions.
Carter Preston’s designs were characterised by flowing and intricate patterns based on natural forms that echoed the designs of William Morris and Islamic art. The centenary programme will highlight these influences as well as showing a continuing interest in the practice of sgraffito.
From 11th September, exhibitions open at Victoria Gallery & Museum, Bluecoat, Bluecoat Display Centre Liverpool Hope’s Cornerstone Gallery, and Walker Art Gallery. Most are open until the end of 2026, with special events and talks at each venue offering insights into the life and work of one of Livetpool’s most important ceramicists, on the centenery of her birth.
With a studio overlooking the garden at the Bluecoat for many years, Carter Preston will be represented by two displays at the arts centre: an archive display comprising photographs, documents and plaques commissioned to mark anniversaries of the Bluecoat Society of Arts; and ‘Made from Scratch’, an exhibition at Bluecoat Display Centre (until 7 November) bringing together a selection of Julia’s work on loan from local collectors, alongside leading contemporary sgraffito artists, which expands the conversation into surface and pattern, with printmakers and jewellers exploring etching, texture and intricate design.
At Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus there will be an exhibition of Julia’s ceramics and other material selected from the Liverpool Hope Carter Preston Foundation’s collection which is housed at the University and comprises work by Julia and her father, the sculptor Edward Carter Preston.
The Walker Art Gallery will showcase outstanding pieces of Julia’s work from the collection of National Museums Liverpool, acquired from the University of Liverpool, the Bluecoat Display Centre or through bequests by local collectors.
The range of pieces in the display will illustrate Julia’s artistry and the development of her practice as a potter.
A display at the University of Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery & Museum (VG&M) will include two examples of Julia’s stunning lustreware artworks – a lustre glaze bowl and a lidded jar with sgraffito figuring and lustre glazes, both from 2001 – alongside other highlights from the University’s ceramics collection.
Made from scratch: a symposium celebrating Liverpool ceramicist Julia Carter Preston takes place at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus on Saturday 3rd October and will include talks, films, discussions and a demonstration of the sgraffito technique. Further details and how to book will be available shortly.
The programme is coordinated and funded by the Liverpool Hope Carter Preston Foundation.
—
Find the full event programme at www.thebluecoat.org.uk/about/news
