O Bowl, porcelain, yellow glaze overall, manganese rim, 9.5 x 9.5 centimetres
A Working Week with Muriel Rose Barley Roscoe
Lucie Rie, 1950s
Gifted to the Crafts Study Centre by Muriel Rose
P.74.21
© Crafts Study Centre (2006)
In the spring of 1974 I spent a memorable few days staying with Muriel Rose in her home at 51 West Street, Coggeshall in Essex being vetted and groomed for the temporary post of a part-time research assistant for the Crafts Study Centre. At 76 Muriel seemed to me to be absolutely ancient, whilst at 21, I evidently appeared to her to be impossibly young: nevertheless we warmed to each other at once. My first meeting with her had been earlier that year at the West Surrey College of Art and Design (WSCAD) when I had applied for the job. Henry Hammond, Head of Ceramics at WSCAD, and a founder Trustee of the Crafts Study Centre had agreed to host the interviews in Farnham and, as a founder Trustee herself, Muriel was also on the interviewing panel together with the Chairman, James Noel White. I was told that a large part of the job would entail visiting prospective donors to list and catalogue the work that was being offered to the Centre and, subsequently, the panel decreed - in view of my youth and lack of experience - that I should spend a trial week with Muriel to see whether I passed muster, before my appointment could be confirmed. It was therefore with some trepidation that I arrived in Coggeshall on the appointed day. I knew my judge was not only highly regarded as an eminent figure in the craft world, but had a reputation for having the highest possible standards and the most impeccable taste which, at times, could be coupled with a devastating candour which spared no one. The house itself was large, gracious and imposing (‘absolutely not a cosy cott’ which, I learnt later, was apparently the last thing Muriel wished for in retirement). She greeted me
MURIEL ROSE: A MODERN CRAFTS LEGACY
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