A Visit to the Bell Collection at Clare Hall
Tuesday 10 February 2026, 5-6.30pm
Join the Friends of Kettle’s Yard on a visit to the Bell Collection of British Studio Pottery at Clare Hall college, University of Cambridge. The collection will be introduced by Helen Ritchie, Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Applied Arts at the Fitzwilliam Museum.
About the Bell Collection
The Bell Collection of British Studio Pottery, 1920–1980, is a generous bequest of Clare Hall Associates Professor G. H. Bell and Mrs K. M. Bell. A small selection is available to enjoy year-round in vitrines in the College’s entry area, with a rotating display drawing from more than 400 pots, but through the courtesy of the President and Fellows of Clare Hall we will be invited into the store rooms to see the full collection.
From 1963 onwards, Professor and Mrs Bell collected pottery by leading figures in studio ceramics, including Bernard Leach, Shōji Hamada, David Leach, Richard Batterham, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Marianne de Trey, Michael Cardew, Seth Cardew, William Marshall, Janet Leach, Ladi Kwali, Robert Fournier, Alan Wallwork and more. The collection features pieces in a variety of materials and decorative styles including raku, soda glazed, salt glazed, ash glazed, earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.
Find out more about the Bell Collection.
As the Bell Collection store is small, the visit will be limited to 20 people, who will be split into two groups after Helen Ritchie’s introductory talk, for the visit to the store. Afterwards drinks will be served in the King Room nearby.
About Helen Ritchie
Our speaker Helen is responsible for researching, interpreting and curating modern and contemporary European Applied Arts. Her research interests include contemporary crafts, design post-1850, British Studio Pottery, Artist/Designer metalwork and jewellery and the intersection between applied and fine art during the interwar period. In 2024 she was named by Apollo magazine as one of the top ‘40 under 40’ in the world working in the field of craft.
She is also a part-time doctoral student in the Department of History of Art at the University of Cambridge, researching the studio ceramics of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895–1985) and Norah Braden (1901–2001).
Helen was the sole curator of the exhibition Designers and Jewellery 1850–1940: Jewellery and Metalwork from The Fitzwilliam Museum (2018) and author of the accompanying catalogue. She was the organising curator of exhibitions, Magdalene Odundo in Cambridge (2021–22), Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery, in partnership with Yale Center for British Art (2018) and Flux: Parian Ware at The Fitzwilliam Museum, in partnership with artist Matt Smith (2018). She has worked with a number of contemporary artists, including Jennifer Lee OBE, Elspeth Owen and Matt Smith. In 2022, her exhibition Magdalene Odundo in Cambridge (curated with the artist) was awarded the Association for Art History Curatorial Prize.
Further Information
The main site of Clare Hall is in Herschel Road, CB3 9AL, next to the corner with Grange Road. View a map here.
Parking: Clare Hall’s underground car park is for College use/staff only and is not to be used. Adjacent to the car park, at road level on Herschel Road, are two accessible bays, available for visitors by prior arrangement. Please email or call the Porters’ Lodge for details. The College has one more accessible bay at West Court, at the far end of Herschel Road, outside Gillian Beer House, along with a limited number of spaces in and around accommodation blocks. There is unrestricted road parking on some nearby roads.
The main route to the Porters’ Lodge from Herschel Road is via two short flights of roughly standard height steps. There is a handrail on each side of the steps, though both may not be within reach at once. Step-free and wheelchair access to the Porters’ Lodge is via a secondary route: enter the College via the path next to the Blue Badge parking on Herschel Road and take an immediate left, then follow the path to the left to reach the Porters’ Lodge.
All proceeds support Kettle’s Yard. Refunds are not possible, unless the event is cancelled by Kettle’s Yard. This event is now sold out, please email friends@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk to join the waiting list.
