The Yorkshire Tea Ceremony

This beautiful and absorbing book explores the remarkable collection of ‘Professional Yorkshireman’ W.A. Ismay MBE (1910-2001), the UK’s most prolific collector of post-war
British studio pottery.
W.A. Ismay amassed over 3,600 pieces by more than 500 potters between 1955 and 2001.
Surrounded by his family of pots, he lived in a tiny terraced house in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and
left his collection and its associated archive to the city of York upon his death. This eclectic
collection contains objects created by many of the most significant potters working in the UK,
such as Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew, as well as examples of work by lesser-known makers. Once he discovered a potter, Ismay supported them throughout their career, carefully assembling groups of work that off er succinct visual overviews of development in style and skill.
What would become known as Ismay’s Yorkshire Tea Ceremony encapsulates all the
aspects of collecting handmade pottery which were important to him. Seeing himself as a
temporary custodian of his collection, rather than the owner, he was keen to allow access and share it. Ismay enjoyed inviting people into his home, encouraging them to pick up items and experience them haptically. This social side of collecting generated close friendships which are revealed through the anecdotes, gossip, obsessions, opinions and touching gestures of support documented within Ismay’s archive. The archive is a monumental and unique creation, which documents his extraordinary life and reveals intriguing glimpses into the development of his character, as well as the personal and societal changes that impacted his interests and activities.
New academic research into a little-studied collection and archive explores Ismay’s
journey as a collector. This book offers fresh perspectives on a marginalized area of British
modernism. Tracing the collection’s journey from private to public ownership illuminates
issues surrounding the acquisition by a museum of a large personal collection and archive,
revealing the transformative effect it has had on both curatorial practice and the ambition of
regional public institutions. The W.A. Ismay Collection offers a well-documented example of the valuable contribution collectors can make to the British studio ceramics movement.
The publication of this research marks 20 years since the W.A. Ismay Collection moved from private to public ownership and to celebrate that anniversary, an exhibition of the collection will take place at York Art Gallery’s Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA).