Ceramics

The V&A’s Ceramics collections are unrivalled anywhere in the world. Encyclopaedic and global in scope, they encompass the history of fine ceramic production from about 2500 BC to the present day.

The collections are particularly strong in international contemporary studio ceramics, European porcelain and pottery from 1500 onwards, and ceramics from China, Japan and the Middle East. Highlights include the collections of Italian Renaissance maiolica, Chinese porcelain, Dutch Delft, British and European porcelain, 19th-century art pottery and exhibition pieces, and tiles. 

Search “Ceramics” in Explore the Collections

Features

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An A–Z of Ceramics

Do you know your A-marked from your Factory Z? Gen up on your ceramics knowledge with our A-Z

  1. Watch

    Highlights from the Ceramics collection

    Take a tour through the treasure trove ceramincs collection and discover some of its secrets
  2. Read

    Ceramics – a risky business

    Firing a pot is the point of no return. Discover some of the 'happy accidents' that have emerged from the kiln.

  3. Watch

    Menopause in maiolica: Katrin Moye's ceramics

    Meet the cheekiest potter in England
  4. Read

    Meissen's King Vulture

    Discover the story behind this remarkable porcelain creature
  5. View

    Richard Batterham: methods of making

    Find out more about Richard Batterham's commitment to the whole process of making
  6. Interact

    The Rouen gamesboard tray

    Lessons in love from a rare ceramic board game
  7. Watch

    Iranian bath rasps: ASMR

    Watch as we unbox and gently rattle a selection of late 17th and early 18th century ceramic bath rasps from Iran
  8. Read

    The Chelsea porcelain factory

    Get a taste for high-quality English porcelain produced in the iconic west-London factory
  9. Watch

    Studio tour with potter Edmund de Waal

    Step inside the potter's studio
  10. Read

    Italian Renaissance pottery – 'beautiful women' plates

    'Belle donne' plates promoted an ideal of the perfect woman: beautiful, virtuous, and not infrequently, dead.
  11. Watch

    Re-engineering the Brown Betty teapot

    The evolution of a design classic, stretching back over 400 years
  12. Interact

    Piccolpasso's treatise on maiolica

    The V&A not only holds the greatest collection of maiolica in the world, but also this unique treatise describing its manufacture.
  13. Read

    Popular pottery

    From cat jugs to novelty 'stirrup' cups and a flask shaped like a potato, discover popular pottery
  14. Read

    Blanc de Chine – white porcelain from China

    A centuries-old Chinese porcelain tradition reinvented by contemporary designers
  15. Read

    Shipwrecked ceramics

    Discover the fascinating cargoes retrieved from Asian trade ships, wrecked in the South China Sea
  16. Read

    Art Deco: Clarice Cliff

    Discover how Clarice Cliff's bold, Art Deco ceramics brought modernity to the kitchen sink
  17. Read

    'Bowl' by Hans Coper

    A rare work by influential studio potter Hans Coper joins the V&A's Ceramics collection
  18. Read

    Presepio: an Italian Nativity scene

    Our traditional Italian Nativity scene includes fascinating details about everyday life in 18th-century Naples
  19. Read

    History of the Ceramics Galleries & Ceramic Staircase

    This elaborate staircase was designed to highlight the versatility and beauty of decorative ceramics
  20. Read

    Chinese blue-and-white ceramics

    Discover some of the most iconic and enduring objects in the history of Chinese ceramics
  21. Read

    William De Morgan – an introduction

    Meet an imaginative and innovative 19th-century artist-potter
  22. Watch

    Contemporary ceramic making from the Middle East

    Discover the meanings, inspiration and processes of making
  23. Read

    Fooling the eye: Trompe l'oeil ceramics

    Soup tureen or bunch of asparagus? Take a closer look at trompe l'oeil ceramics
  24. Read

    Teapots through time

    Discover some of the finest examples of teapots produced over the last five centuries
  25. Watch

    Laying a wacky and whimsical Christmas table

    How wacky is your Christmas table? Discover some of our favourite festive fare, with a twist
  26. Read

    Let them eat clay: Mexican búcaros ceramics

    Discover a unique appetite for clay
  27. Watch

    How was it made? An agate teapot

    Experimenting with how the object was originally made
  28. Interact

    William De Morgan's tiles

    Bold, intricate and beautiful
  29. Watch

    On the White Road: Edmund de Waal

    Take a journey into the history of porcelain through extraordinary objects
  30. Read

    The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion

    Discover more about Wedgwood's anti-slavery medallion – a forerunner of the protest badge

Collection highlights

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  1. flower pyramid
    Flower pyramid, made by Greek A factory and Metalen Pot factory, about 1695, Delft, Netherlands
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  2. figure group
    Polito's Menagerie, figure group, about 1830, Staffordshire, England
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  3. Porcelain long-haired goat figure with horns
    Goat figure, modelled by Johann Joachim, manufactured by Meissen Porcelain Factory, about 1732, Meissen, Germany. Museum no. C.111-1932
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  4. coffee pot
    Kestrel Coffee Set, coffee pot, designed by Susie Cooper, manufactured by Susie Cooper Pottery, 1932, Burslem, England
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  5. stick stand
    Stick stand, by Minton, 1870 – 1900, Stoke-on-Trent, England
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  6. pot
    Snow Lady Gourd, pot, by Kate Malone, 2008, London, England
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  7. jar
    Jar, 3500 – 2500 BC, Kanto, Japan
    V&A South Kensington
  8. ewer
    Ewer, 1522 – 1566, Jingdezhen, China
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  9. plate
    Plate, by Maestro Jacopo, 1510, Cafaggiolo, Italy
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  10. dish
    Dish, 1590 – 1600, Iznik, Turkey
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  11. group
    The Music Lesson, by Joseph Willems, manufactured by Chelsea Porcelain factory, about 1765, London, England
    V&A South Kensington
    On display
  12. form
    Form, by Gillian Lowndes, 1986, UK
    V&A South Kensington
    On display

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