BBC Ceramics A Fragile History 2of3 The Age of Wedgwood x264 AAC HDTV

TV Show Info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016drl7
TV Show Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2083466/

Ceramics: A Fragile History

Arts Documentary hosted by Ruth Wilson, published by BBC in 2011 - English narration


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Ceramics are where art meets function - one of our oldest and most fundamental art forms, that sits at the centre of our homes.


2) The Age of Wedgwood
This second film in the series charts the rags to riches-to-rags epic of Stoke-on-Trent, a city built on clay and the heart of Britain's once world-beating ceramics empire. On the back of the 17th century phenomenon of tea, pottery in Britain exploded into a cutting-edge industry and a source of national pride. The key characters responsible for putting British ceramic art on the map are featured - innovator, artist and marketing genius, Josiah Wedgwood; the man who invented a British version of Chinese porcelain and came up with bone china, which revolutionised the industry, Josiah Spode; and the great 20th century ceramicists, Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper. The film shows how demands for cheap labour since the 1980s have forced the closure of all but a handful of these great factories, leaving Stoke's crumbling overgrown ruins as our Pompeii.
Contributors include AN Wilson, Neil Brownsword, Lucy Worsley, Miranda Goodby, Emmanuel Cooper and Matthew Rice