Museum of Contemporary Pottery Making

Thinking back at our time in Greece and our visit to the Museum of Contemporary Pottery Making...

The Museum of Contemporary Pottery Making is situated in this neo-classical building in the Thisio area in Athens.

The facade of the building is deceptive. One expects to find a conventional layout and yet on entering, 

one finds oneself in a courtyard, with stairs going to the upper floor on the left

looking up, the wonderful ceiling

the courtyard, surrounded by further sections of the building

the upper storey on our right

a one storey extension at the back

which I presume is where seminars are conducted. 

We then entered the door on our left which is where the museum is housed. The first room is the cofee shop

We then entered a space at the back of the buildig which originally must have been a courtyard, but now a glass roof has been installed making it an indoor space.

All along the back wall, huge urns with pottery wheels on the ground - pottery classes are held here on a regular basis for both adults and school children

We then entered a series of rooms. The first room is full of exhibits outlining the history of pottery making

The second room is dedicated to the making of pottery without a wheel: hand building or coiling

 

and there is a display of pots made with those techniques

as well as information on how to achieve this.

The third room is dedicated to pottery making with a wheel

and a display of pots made with that technique.

A traditional pot from Rhodes used for baking lamb

A vessel for storing water, wine, or oil from Karditsa

The first pot in this photograph is for storing honey 

Finally, a wheel

The fourth room is the shop

Plates from Sifnos

and the rest are from other regions of Greece, including some from Athens

Like in every room in this place, a wonderful ceiling 

Having looked around, and made our purchases, we walked back into the courtyard

looked at the display of pots that children had made in their pottery classes

Some more on the top of the fountain that supplied the water for the household

Grey

The weather has been totally miserable since we got back from Greece: it's been cold, it has rained an awful lot, but the worst thing has been the grey - grey skies, grey atmosphere, grey everything. The sun came out a few days ago, but it lasted for 10 minutes - the rest of the time, grey, grey, grey. It's depressing.

The weir under the bridge next to Jephson Gardens is a testimony to the amount of rain we've had.

 

Merry Christmas

 In Coventry Cathedral,

opposite the large stained glass window

is this nativity scene. 

Basil Spence, the architect who designed this magnificent building, commissioned this crib for the Cathedral's first Christmas in 1962.

The figures are by Alma Ramsey-Hosking, who gave birth in 1940 while the Battle of Britain raged in the skies above.

Her midwife told her to keep her new baby not in the cot but 'on your hand where it is safest'. 

She used this memory when modelling Mary, the baby Jesus on her oversized hand, keeping him safe.

Christmassy Compton Verney

Our visit to Compton Verney was great fun. We went to see two exhibitions and the walk around the grounds was a delight.

Red elves to be found in the most unexpected places.

A Christmas tree on a small boat in the middle of the lake

Christmas lights over the bridge

A large cluster of lanterns on the lawn by the lake - this must look wonderful at night

As we approached the house we could see that it was decorated

with Christmas trees and lights

Inside in the foyer more Christmas trees, silver ones this time.

We saw the two exhibitions we had come to see and then continued our walk in the grounds.

One of Capability Browne's bridges in the distance

A very wintery landscape

We walked towards the lake

There were a lot of very excited children on the grounds, some of them playing here

We could see the house in the distance. We walked all around the grounds and then came back full circle

to the bridge and the lanterns.

The boat looked even prettier from here

The ice house was surrounded with lights

and some trees had red bows tied around their trunks

We followed another path that was all  lit up

we followed the signs. At one point we were told we were 'nearly there'

another sign informed us that we had reached the 'North Pole' -  a hut, a glowing fire

a bush with decorations

a Christmas tree

a cosy bench

a tin full of sweets. No wonder the kids were so excited.