Entitled Gesture and the Hand: Later years of the Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection, the specially curated exhibition will be on show at Blue Urchin Gallery until October.

Curated by Beth Arnold, the exhibition features selected works from The Margaret Lawrence collection and examines the gestural, handmade and individual qualities realised through the process of creating ceramics.

The works on show date back to the early 1900s right up to 2005 when Lawrence died at age 90.

Blue Urchin Gallery owner Tina Lee said many of the early pioneers of Australian studio ceramics including William Merric Boyd, Harold Hughan, Peter Rushforth, Reg Preston, Gladys Reynell and Klytie Pate were represented in the exhibition.

“Their works rub shoulders with works by other distinguished Australian ceramicists,” she said.

The five-week show also features Lawrence’s hand-drawn catalogue of each work along with full descriptions. 

The Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection is a comprehensive collection representing the major important influences and developments in Australian ceramic history.

A passionate collector, Margaret Lawrence collected more than 600 pieces during her lifetime.

Collecting everything from functional ware to more sculptural ceramics, the diversity of her works is a unique record of ceramic practice in Australia over the past 100 years.

Lee said the collection was one of the largest private collections of studio ceramics in Australia and was bequeathed to the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004.

“Exhibiting this in the central highlands provides a rare opportunity for the wider community to experience a collection of national significance without the travel,” Lee said.

“In a region where many ceramicists call home, the immediacy of engaging with the work in this collection presents an opportunity for all to appreciate Australian studio ceramics in a historical and educational context.”

As part of the five-week show, the gallery will be offering educational tours of the exhibition to local high school students and interested community groups.

Gesture and the Hand is supported by the Margaret Lawrence Bequest and the Victorian College of the Arts.

The exhibition will be held at Blue Urchin Gallery, 37 High Street, Trentham until October 4. For more information, call 0427 004 898.