Visiting the Ken Stradling Collection in Bristol

This Friends trip which took place on Tuesday July 15th, was suggested by Mike Yates who was keen to see the ceramics. Ken's collection is housed at 48, Park Row, behind the Bristol Guild on Park Street, easily reached by train and then a number 8 or 9 bus from Bristol Temple Meads station.
Comparisons between Kettle's Yard in Cambridge and  Ken Stradling's collection have been made, and there certainly is a charm to both collections because of their being sited in household situations. Although Ken's 'house' is much smaller than Kettle's Yard, being able to handle the objects, mostly linked to food preparation, eating and drinking, and meeting Ken and talking about his collection  was very special.
It is possible to visit without appointment on Wednesdays, or gather together a group of  10 or 12 together and visit by arrangement, more information on the website: http://stradlingcollection.org/
Listening to Ken Stradling  talking about buying objects he liked from when he worked at the Bristol Guild made buying objects one likes seem quite acceptable rather than an extravagance. When he talked about the things he's bought, he obviously still really enjoys looking at them.
After an initial opening talk, we started looking in the cellar where certain things are stored so they can be rotated:

 Below the curator of the collection

 Above and below close ups of ceramics which I liked

 After the cellar, we looked round the first floor where Peter Wright's interlocking sculpture was displayed

 Below a Thomas ‘Sam’ Haile Bowl

 And here's Ken talking about a particular bowl someone had asked him about.

 Below a close up of the table beside Ken

 There are news items about ken and the collection dotted around

 I photographed this vase because it's an example of one made at Clevedon Court pottery.

 Here we are:

Below a Poole pottery Coronation mug

And one of my favourite pieces, an oval 'Rooster' dish made by Nicholas Vergette in 1953.

I found it hard to decide which book to buy, and ended up with a catalogue produced for an exhibition of some works in the collection at Monnow Valley Arts in Hereford