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Ceramics in the West Midlands in the late 18th century: production and consumption through the eyes of Katherine Plymley

This article reflects Dahn’s long-term interest in taste and its construction and investigates how a particular group of consumers in the West Midlands area – the Plymley family and their circle – related to ceramics and ceramics production during the long eighteenth century. The principle sources are the unpublished writings of Katherine Plymley and her brother Joseph Plymley’s A General View of the Agriculture of Shropshire with Observations (McMillan, London 1803). Dahn argues that both Abolitionism and Quakerism influenced the Plymleys in their consumption of ceramics, especially Coalport China.

Dahn is a founder member of the Interpreting Ceramics Research Collaboration (ICRC), established in 1999 with support from the UK Universities Collaboration Fund and involving academics from Aberystwyth University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of The West of England and the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. ICRC’s principal outcome has been the online, peer-reviewed journal ‘Interpreting Ceramics’, for which Dahn is submissions editor (www.interpretingceramics.com ISSN 1471-146X). Contributions are regularly received from international writers and there are strong collaborative links with Alfred University, USA. www.interpretingceramics.com/issue011/articles/01.htm