Wakefield Museums and Castles

Local art teacher Alice Gostick began classes for amateurs to paint pottery in 1920. The classes inspired similar sessions across the country. By 1930, 170 art centres offered pottery painting lessons. They were an important part of adult education after the First World War.

Classes carried on in Castleford even after Gostick retired in 1930. They continued until the 1950s as a legacy of her work.

The pots for the classes came from the local company, Clokie and Co. Ltd. They provided the pots as biscuit ware - fired but unglazed. After the classes, the painted pots went back to Clokie's kilns for gloss firing.

Many of the painters at the classes were women. They each signed their creations with their own maker's mark. Vera has also dated this piece on its base.