Channel 4's
Time Team did
a
Burslem School of Art dig during the
BSA
refurbishment. They found evidence
for pottery-making dating back to early
medieval times. Burslem's people have ceramic skills that
are ten generations deep!
Those who trained here include:
Clarice Cliff
(Ceramicist, 1899 - 1972)
Charlotte Rhead
(Ceramicist, 1885 - 1947)
Charles Tomlinson, CBE
(Major poet & painter, born 1927)
Arnold Machin, OBE, RA
(Sculptor & graphic designer,
1911 - 1999)
Peggy Davies
(Ceramicist, 1920 - 1989)
Sidney Tushingham, ARE.
(Portraitist, 1884 - 1968)
Susie Cooper
(Ceramicist, 1902 - 1995)
William Bowyer, RA
(Major artist, born 1926)
Arthur Berry
(Artist & writer, 1925-1994)
Esther Barnish Turner
(Artist)
John Cooke
(Artist)
Derek Higginson
(Artist)
Arnold Machin trained for six years at the
BSA, and later returned to
as Headmaster early in the
Second World War. He designed the classic
'plain' British postage stamp - 180 billion printed so far - and
the 50p & other coins. He
sculpted the Queen's head for both stamps & coins;
and once said:
"I found the Queen to have a great sense of humour".
Colin Melbourne ('The Professor') is another
well-remembered Headmaster. He made a life-sized steel sculpture
of a worker, during the struggle for Shelton Bar.
The statue was used as the 'mascot' during the steelworkers'
marches.
