Searching for Beauty
The 2007 UK Tour
Richard Jacobs recently undertook a tour with Kestrel Books to launch 'Searching for Beauty' in the UK. He gave a lecture at Wolverhampton University, was in conversation with Ruthanne Tudball at the Oxford Ceramics Fair and with Dr Jeffrey Jones, author of another new book 'Studio Pottery in Britain 1900-2005' (A&C Black) at UWIC. He was in conversation with Lionel Burman at Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool, then proceeded to The University of the Creative Arts at Farnham for another talk, where he was hosted by head of ceramics Ashley Howard and potter-in-residence Gareth Mason. 'Searching for Beauty' was officially launched at Contemporary Ceramics in Marshall Street. An in-conversation-with Joanna Howells followed at 'hub' in Lincolnshire before the tour was concluded at a seminar at the Royal College of Art in London.
Although Richard Jacobs has built up a substantial collection of British studio pottery over the past three decades, his name recognition in the UK was not high when the tour began.
This has now changed thanks to the publication of 'Searching for Beauty' and his high octane presentations. Established potters and students alike respond to his vigorous promotion of pottery as central to human civilisation, while collectors of large and modest means are encouraged by his insistence that the collector's role can complement that of the maker. As a lifelong educationalist with a reputation as a renegade, Richard Jacobs is unafraid to pose the vital and difficult questions that craftspeople habitually pose, often in private, sometimes in public. His permission to ask these questions and to attempt answers, however faltering and incomplete, is one of the most refreshing themes in 'Searching for Beauty'. His sense of humour, often self-deprecating but never frivolous, is one of the most engaging aspects of both the book and his talks. Richard will return in 2008 for further speaking engagements.
