There has long been a passionate interest in collecting Australian pottery. Initially led by dedicated collectors and researchers who published books and curated ground breaking exhibitions on all aspects of the topic, it was roughly divided into ‘art pottery’ of the 20th century, and commercial potteries during both the 19th and 20th centuries.
Porcelain making was considered as technically too difficult to pursue, especially as the simpler manufacture of pottery had proved so difficult, barely making any headway in Victoria or Australia. However, amongst the earthen-ware potters that migrated to Australia, a few had been employed in porcelain works, mostly from Europe. Some of those in Victoria were Samuel Bedson (19th century) and William Milner (early 20th century), but the industry really exploded when industrial porcelain was needed to make insulators as the age of electrification advanced. This coincided with the First World War when the porcelain works from central Europe stopped selling to Australia, and Australians had to find new ways of securing it.
Several Victorian companies started at this time, some using foreign immigrants who were soon forced out of the industry due to their status as ‘Enemy Aliens’ during the First World War with Germany (1914-1918) and some who, as Albert Cooper did, who took it upon themselves to learn how to make porcelain from books loaned from the Victorian State Library.
When examining the manufacture of porcelain, the prime material involved is kaolin, also called china clay
