Contemporary British Crafts

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Nicholas and Judith Goodison’s remarkable gift to the Fitzwilliam Museum of contemporary ceramics, glass, furniture, woodwork, metalwork and jewellery, which they have built up over the last two decades, now numbers over 120 objects. It includes outstanding work by Martin Smith, Philip Eglin, Anna Dickinson, David Reekie, Alan Peters, David Poston, and Adam Paxon. The last purchase listed is a magnificent pair of chairs commissioned from John Makepeace and delivered in 2015. The purpose of the collection has been to introduce to the Museum some of the outstanding work being created by British designers and craftspeople today, thus complementing the Museum’s historic collections and reflecting the quality of teaching and practice in the field. The term ‘British’ includes craftspeople from overseas who have trained and worked in Britain. A secondary aim has been to introduce works that would create more colourful displays than the studio pottery of earlier years. The result has been to put the Museum on the ‘must visit’ list of anyone interested in contemporary work. This catalogue of the collection, authoritatively edited by Amanda Game, provides a valuable record of the skills of contemporary British craftspeople and of the rich possibilities that lie not just in buying their work but also in commissioning it – and in both cases enjoying it. The book contains a conversation between the editor and Nicholas Goodison about the collection and the craft scene, a fully illustrated catalogue in chronological order of acquisition, and a glossary of materials and techniques. It tells us much about the craft world and its products, but above all it is a record of skill, great beauty and elegance of design