History of Pottery in Australia: Bendigo Pottery It was purely by accident; in researching slipware pottery in Australia, I came across The National Museum of Pottery. This museum is physically located in Holbrook NSW but helpfully provides a website as a starting point of research. Early slipware dating back to 1 850 is identified as originating at Bendigo Pottery although the Official name was established in 1850. Scottish migrant George Duncan Guthrie ‘stumbled’ upon a local clay deposit and from their built up a pottery business which would soon rival the Staffordshire potteries of England.
Figure 4 oldest known image of Bendigo Pottery 1850s
It was not an accident that the pottery began and flourished in Bendigo; the nearby goldfields attracted approximately 15000 people worldwide to work on the gold seams. The infrastructure required to house these new residents demanded industrial pottery su ch as clay sewerage pipes, roof tiles, sinks and insulators. On a domestic level Bendigo Pottery produced functional wares for eating and drinking, pots for cooking, water filters, jars and teapots.
