About Us

The Association was formed as the Craftsmen Potters Association (CPA) in 1958 as a co-operative to sell the work of its members and to increase public awareness of contemporary studio pottery. In 1955 purchase tax was introduced on domestic pottery, which caused a considerable increase in the price of pots.

In a move to help potters, Walter Lipton who was then at the Rural Industries Bureau arranged an exhibition of pottery for export. The success of the exhibition prompted a group of potters to set up a working party to consider ways of forming an association that could organise similar activities to promote and sell the work of the growing number of studio potters in this country.


Under the guidance of Walter Lipton the Craftsmen Potters Association was formed as an Industrial and Provident Society - Rosemary Wren was elected the first chair of the CPA and David Canter was appointed Honorary Secretary and his energy organizational ability and business acumen shaped and guided the Association through its early years.

The vision of the early members of the Association was that it should be completely democratic, governed by an elected Council of members. The Council was empowered to mange all aspects of the Association and to select new members. Upon selection each Member buys a £1 share and is entitled to elect Council Members and to vote at the Annual General Meeting. Apart from the change of name in 1991 to Craft Potters Association, this organizational structure, whereby the CPA is owned and controlled by its elected members, remains in place today and has stood the test of time. Now with almost fifty years experience behind it the CPA is in a strong position to face the 21st Century.

Selling the work of its members has always been a fundamental aim of the CPA. In the Spring of 1959, a year after the start of the Association, a lease was taken on premises at 3 Lowndes Court, in the heart of London's West End, off Carnaby Street, before the street gained its present fame. Over the next year a team of volunteers co-ordinated by David Canter carried out the renovations. In May 1960, The Craftsmen Potters Shop opened with a superb exhibition of Ray Finch stoneware and two hundred people attended the opening ceremony, performed by Lady Glenconner.

By 1967, the small shop in Lowndes Court had been outgrown and in December of that year the CPA shop moved to its present larger premises in Marshall Street on the site of the house where William Blake was born. David Attenborough performed the opening ceremony of the new shop.

The shop was refurbished in 1983 with the aid of a grant from the Crafts Council and in 1990 was renamed as Contemporary Ceramics. Because of the uncertainties of retail trade, to ensure the financial stability of the Association, in 1991 the Council decided that this retail part of the Association should be set up as a limited company; Craftsmen Potters Trading Company Ltd.

In 1997, a lottery grant of £100,000 enabled the council to completely redesign the premises to give improved gallery and display space. This has produced a fresh open and bright setting for some of the finest ceramics in the country. A full programme of solo and themed exhibitions is mounted throughout the year, as well as an annual exhibition Setting Out showing the finest work by new graduate students. Contemporary Ceramics is unique in central London selling and exhibiting only modern studio pottery, and has the widest selection of work in the country. The gallery also has a wide range of books and international magazines on ceramics as well as a range of pottery sundries and tools.

Contemporary Ceramics, is located at 7 Marshall Street, London W1V 1LP. www.cpaceramics.com

Disseminating ideas and information on studio ceramics has always been a prime function of the Association. The first newsletter was produced in 1957 and this continues today as CPA News a bimonthly news magazine about the world of studio ceramics in the UK.

Ceramic Review, is a venture on a different scale, and this was first published in 1970 as a bi-monthly International ceramics magazine. Co-edited originally by Eileen Lewenstein and Emmanuel Cooper it has now grown to become one of the most respected ceramics journals in the world with a readership in excess of 40,000.

Ceramic Review was also set up as a limited company in 1991, Ceramic Review Publishing Ltd. The Company has gone from strength to strength and in addition to publishing Ceramic Review , it now publishes specialist ceramics books, such as Clays and Glazes, Potters Tips, and monographs on famous potters such as Lucie Rie and more recently Janet Leach. It also publishes The Ceramics Book, the illustrated directory of CPA Fellows and Professional Members.