Place made
Murrumbeena, Victoria
Medium
porcelain
Dimensions
18.3 x 20.4 x 17.2 cm
Credit line
Gift of Blanche and Richard Koehne through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 2022. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
Accession number
20222C7
Signature and date
Signed and dated on base "Merric Boyd / 1934"
Provenance
...; George Walters, Perth; purchased 2004 by Blanche and Richard Koehne; gifted 2022 to AGSA.
Media category
Ceramic
Collection area
Australian decorative arts and design
  • Merric Boyd (1888-1959) is considered Australian’s first studio potter. Boyd studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, enrolling in the drawing school in 1910; drawing subsequently became a major part of Boyd’s output. In 1913 he settled at a property he named Open Country in Murreumbeena, Melbourne, where he set up his studio, and lived and worked for the rest of his life. In 1918, after war service, he attended pottery classes at the Stoke Technical School and in the following year attended pottery classes at the Stoke Technical College. Boyd returned to Open Country in 1919, and within a few years was established as the major studio potter in Melbourne.

    Boyd's work in clay employed both wheel-throw and hand-built techniques and his pots often have a rugged, earthy quality. He fredquently included gum trees in both applied decoration and form as well as koalas and his work drew heavily on the Australian landscape.


  • [Book] Fahy, Kevin, Free, Keith, et al. Australian Art Pottery 1900-1950.
  • [Book] Hammond, Victoria. Merric Boyd Studio Potter 1888-1959.