Bendigo Pottery

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Type: Photograph albums
Materials: Adhesive - non specific, Card, Metal - non specific, Paper, Photographic emulsion, Plastic - non specific
Collection: William and Jeanette Derham Family - Bendigo Pottery collection
Accession number: 2006.0109.0408

Description

An adhesive 'magnetic' page photo album, with a red brown plastic cover decorated with gold-coloured tooling of a leaf and scroll border. The album has a half-binding of a wood grain-look plastic covering. The number '5' is handwritten in ink on the upper spine. The album contains 14 leaves of card, with an adhesive surface and transparent plastic covering. The pages hold photographs and documents relating to Bendigo Pottery. Each of the photographs or documents has a white circle adhesive sticker with a code on it next to them.

About the collection

The William and Jeanette Derham family collection is the physical manifestation of Mr Derham's commitment to documenting the work of Bendigo Pottery, its wares and institutional history, as well as the association he and his family had with the business between 1968 and 1983. The collection consists of historic Bendigo Pottery ceramics from the 19th and 20th centuries which illustrate the diversity of wares produced between 1858 and 1971, as well as a comprehensive range of items manufactured during the Derham era. This material is supported by a unique collection of stamps and printing blocks used as part of the manufacturing and advertising processes as well as documentary materials, photographs and ephemera which illustrate working life at Bendigo Pottery. Since its establishment in 1858, Bendigo Pottery has played a significant role in the history of Australian ceramics, producing wares ranging from the domestic and decorative, to the utilitarian and industrial. The history of the business illustrates the process of technological transfer in the decorative arts, the adaptation of imported ceramic traditions to local markets and the development of distinctively Australian imagery, styles and pottery products. Bendigo Pottery has provided useful products and employment opportunities to the community for 150 years and on an aesthetic level ensured that the skills of the potter, which so easily could have been lost with the advent of mass production techniques, have been preserved for posterity.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:44:16 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-23. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.