San Francisco Ceramic Circle

Ceramics Conference: June 4-6, 2026
Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

Clay Stories : A Ceramics Symposium

Colonial Williamsburg is pleased to host the 2026 bi-annual ceramics conference, in collaboration with MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) for this year’s symposium entitled: Clay Stories. Every object has multiple stories layered through time as it passes from raw materials in the hands of makers, to finished vessel, to single owner or multiple stewards, and from useful utilitarian piece to archaeological fragment or prized possession mounted in a collector’s curio cabinet or in a museum’s case. Clay Stories weaves together history and research shared by curators, scholars, archaeologists, and potters. From hands-on workshops and special tours to a pottery demonstration, to lectures by renown leaders in the field, there is something for every ceramic enthusiast in this exciting program!

Details and booking:
https://web.cvent.com/event/4557b4ab-2814-40cb-8392-3908743f93e1/summary

Happy National Crabmeat Day! Marking the day, March 9th, with a Haviland porcelain Seafood Plate, featuring a crab (and a lobster riding in on the surf), from the Hayes Presidential Service.

A chance meeting in the White House between First Lady Lucy Hayes and illustrator and journalist Theodore Davis produced a most extraordinary dinner service. Mrs. Hayes was selecting fern samples to be used as decoration on the presidential service, which had already been contracted with Haviland, and Davis suggested that she use depictions of flora and fauna native to North America, celebrating the country’s natural bounty. Davis became the designer of the service, producing 130 distinct decorations for 562 pieces made for nine courses. Each decoration was drawn by hand, etchings were made to transfer the outlines, basic colors were applied via chromolithographic and decalcomania processes, and enamel details and gilding were added by hand. The designs ornamenting each piece of this service not only echo the era’s interest in nature and America’s spirit of nationalism, they also often indicate the type of food they were to serve.

From the collections:
Theodore Russell Davis, American, 1840-1894
Haviland & Company, French, 1842 -, manufacturer
Limoges, manufacturer
Seafood plate
from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Service, ca. 1880
Porcelain with enamels and gilding
3.8 x 22.9 cm (1 1/2 x 9 inches) (overall)
Gift of Christopher Monkhouse 2003.111

Ceramics publication now available:

The 2025 issue of “Ceramics in America” is now available for purchase at casemateacademic.com, bookshop.org, or amazon.com

Contents:
Ceramics in America 2025

Introduction, Ronald W. Fuchs II

"Colonowares of the Gulf South," Gregory A. Waselkov

"’Very Courteously Entertained’: Ceramic Tea Wares at James Logan’s Stenton," Dennis Pickeral

"The Potter Hath Power Over His Clay: The Earthenware Industry of 18th Century Philadelphia," Deborah Miller

"The Earliest Known Piece of Thuringian Porcelain in North America," Deborah Miller and Ronald W. Fuchs II

"'Strange And Beautiful Birds in Pennsylvania': A 1754 Philadelphia Slipware Dish'," Robert Hunter

"Connecticut Clobbered: An Amsterdams Bont Punch Bowl from Hartford County," Philippe Halbert

"From Jiangnan to Staffordshire: Chinese Landscapes on English Ceramics," Ronald W. Fuchs II

"Roll of the Dice: Evidence for the Production of True Porcelain in South Carolina in the Late 1760s–Early 1770s," J. Victor Owen, Brandon Boucher, and John D. Greenough

"The Battle of North Point Baltimore Stoneware Pitcher," Robert Hunter

"The 'Lies' of Truthful James: Racial Politics in Ceramics," Abi Lua

“'The Sign of What We Are': Gustav Stickley’s Ceramics as Markers of Taste and Character," Jonathan Clancy

"History in Blue and White: The Patriotic Wares of Charles Volkmar and Kate T. Cory," Margi Hofer

"Peter Voulkos’s Unruly Demo: The Two-Minute Teapot as a Cultural Calisthenic," Ezra Shales

During the Victorian era (1837–1901) houseplants became more accessible to the masses. Plant enthusiasts adored hardy species such as parlor palms (Chamaedorea elegans) and the cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior), given its common name for its ability to tolerate dismal conditions, such as low light and gas-lit homes. Simultaneously, a passion for ferns of all kinds, referred to as “pteridomania,” reached a fever pitch. Commonly referred to as jardinières from the French word for “female gardener,” ornamental pots and plant stands served as essential components of indoor décor. Larger potteries, like Minton in Staffordshire, as well as smaller art pottery studios, such as Bretby and Ault Pottery in Derbyshire, supplied the demand for wares. Indoor Eden will showcase an array of English jardinières, pedestals, and vases, while also exploring historical topics, from Wardian cases, or the first terrariums, to fern fever and floriography. These objects and stories combine to explain some of the origins of our love of houseplants, decorative planters, and the continued desire for green spaces today.

See "Indoor Eden: Victorian Jardinières" on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal and online at: https://bit.ly/IndoorEden

February lecture Impressionists in Clay, given by Brittany Severt, Ann Stone Curator of Decorative Arts, Baltimore Museum of Art. This lecture will be both live at the Gunn Theater and also virtual via Zoom.

The link to register for the Zoom portion of the lecture is below:

When: Feb 15, 2026 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Impressionists in Clay

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hiq9MITDSkCz1gGWbXsGyg


After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.