David Ray is a ceramacist based in Melbourne whose work echoes strong influences derived from 18th century European factory ceramics such as Wedgwood, Sevres and Spade, influences that are clearly evident in Tall Goblet (pictured above).

The Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection (MLACC) is an extensive collection of Australian ceramics with work dating from the 1920s until 2005, the time of Margaret Lawrence’s death at the age of 90. Bequeathed to the Victorian College of the Arts, the MLACC consists of over 2,000 pieces and is regarded as one of the largest private collections of Australian ceramics in the country.

Lawrence’s taste was eclectic, and her collection includes examples both of the sublime, and of the charmingly ridiculous. Works by now unknown craft potters, and by small mass production potteries from the 1920s onwards sit alongside works by the most seminal figures in Australian studio ceramics. The diversity of the collection suggests that Lawrence was more interested in delighting in the versatility of the medium, than in pursuing any rigidly defined aesthetic, and her collection provides examples of many significant themes in Australian ceramics since the 1920s.