Australia's oldest-working pottery is fired for new success, reports SARAH HUDSON

In its earliest days, Bendigo was just a crisscross of dusty tracks lined with the tents of gold-mining hopefuls en-route to the nearby goldfields.

It was on one of those tracks Scotsman George Duncan Guthrie, jaded after failing to strike it rich, established what is now known as Bendigo Pottery in 1858, now Australia's oldest working pottery.

"Instead of finding gold, he found high-quality clay and as he was a potter back in Scotland he started making utilitarian products," says Rod Thomson, who has owned the pottery for the past decade.

Initially those utilitarian products included ginger-beer bottles and food containers, but as Victoria's settlements began to grow so too did demand for industrial ceramics.

"They were producing a large volume of sewage pipes and acid jars, four-gallon ceramic jars to transport acid for use in gold mining," says Rod.

So it's surprising that among this industrial production line, Bendigo Pottery at the same time produced the highly prized majolica pottery, a selection of which is now being exhibited at Ararat Regional Art Gallery.

Bendigo Pottery Majolica 1879-1911, a touring exhibition that will next visit Wangaratta and Bendigo, showcases earthenware that is adorned with rich, glossy and colourful lead glazes, with no two pieces the same.

The exhibition has 60 rarely seen pieces from private and public collections - such as teapots, bread plates, Toby jugs, salt cellars and urns - including pieces from Bendigo Pottery's own museum.

Rod says majolica has similarities to wares produced by potteries in England and Scotland due to the influence of immigrant potters brought here to work at the Bendigo pottery.

"While they were producing industrial products, they were making this highly decorative style; it was an unusual mix," says Rod.

"A lot of it would have been copied from products from the UK.

"The work is brilliant and won a lot of awards at exhibitions around the world in its time.

"Now we make stoneware that is a lot more durable and while we have some similar colour glazes, we don't decorate the same way.

"They used lead so we're limited by the safe use of materials, and also tastes change.

"There's not a calling to replicate antique styles."

After Guthrie died in 1910, the pottery saw many owners and changes, including two fires - one in 1900 and 1941 - that required sections to be rebuilt.

Rod says the 1960s was the pottery's lowest point, when the business was just making pipes.

At that time Bill Derham took over the reins, changing the production line and courting tourists.

These days Rod, his wife, Sally, and about 20 staff, have diversified the business further and celebrated the company's 150th birthday last year.

They machine produce a range of table and cookware, hand throw other items such as wine goblets and port barrels, as well as offering tourist activities and manufacturing for corporate customers.

Aside from resident potters, an artist also hand paints limited-edition decorative items.

Pieces can take up to three weeks to work through the production process.

Rod, a mechanical engineer who previously managed a Ballarat tile factory and Bendigo brickworks, says it can be difficult to compete with cheap imports, but said many customers still valued high-quality, Australian-made products.

"Because we have such a strong name and we're so collectable, in 30 years you will sell a Bendigo Pottery item for more than you paid for it. In 10 years, you'll just throw out that cheap Chinese version."

    Checklist
  • Excellence of Ware: Bendigo Pottery Majolica 1879-191 is at the Ararat Regional Art Gallery until November 29. Details: visit the Ararat Rural City Council website
  • The exhibition will be at Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, December 12 to January 24, 2010 and then Bendigo Art Gallery, March 27 to June 27. Details: visit the Bendigo Pottery website