Wembley Ware Museum

WANTED: A WEMBLEY WARE MUSEUM FOR SUBIACO.

We need YOUR SUPPORT  to make the museum a reality.

 The china which was produced 1921 to 2006, during 85 years of production of the pottery factory in Hay Street, Subiaco, Western Australia was once commonplace on the tables of Australian homes, but today it is considered to be far from ordinary. Private collectors and art galleries are always looking for that special item for their collection and some are prepared to pay a high price for it.

Whether you are talking about Calyx Ware, Bristile China, Wembley Ware or Australian Fine China, all of the china is unique, made in the longest-running potteryworks in Western Australia. Wembley Ware is the most well-known of the types of china. The beautiful lustre items were popular as gifts, wedding presents etc.

The potters who moulded and shaped the Wembley Ware in particular were fine artists, some of them were sculptors and also painters of repute, as were those artists who painted and finished the various pieces.

THE CHINA IS THE STORY 

Each finished piece of pottery tells the whole story – from the piece of clay, through the designer, modeller, the firing process to the painter and finisher, ready for retail through the on-site factory shop.

The china is an important part of Australian history, and particularly Western Australian history.

A Wembley Ware museum displaying examples of  all the various types of china should be at the centre of the heritage and history, and  displayed on the china factory site which is being re-devloped by the SRA ( now MRA) 

A Wembley Ware Museum  will be a valuable asset to the City of  Subiaco. With the factory site being returned to the City of Subiaco by the developers we looked to the Subiaco City Council  to provide a Wembley Ware Museum for the people.

The plans for heritage displays on the re-devloped factory site make no provision for the display of any finished pottery items.

Surveys and public workshops in Subiaco demonstrate that history and culture are highly valued by the community. The provision of a Wembley Ware Museum would fill this important need.  A Wembley Ware Museum would attract tourists to visit as well as being popular with the local community. 

Sadly the neither the MRA or the City of Subiaco has any plans for a Wembley Ware Museum or a showcase displaying the china to be erected on the AFC site. Nor does the City have any other site in mind at this stage.  The City of Subiaco have given their support through the involment of bothe the Subiaco Library and the Subiaco Museum in our very successful Wembley Ware Week initiatives.  The City is appreciated for its support of the Wembley Ware Society to bring this wonderful 85 years’ history into focus as part of the heritage of the Subiaco community.  

Wembley Ware and the other pottery items are still around to tell the amazing story. As is the nature of pottery, the items will be around for many years to come.   These china, porcelain and pottery items have been desribed as art.  This is not modern art but it is art of its time;  bearing the marks of it’s makers who belong to that group of  people who formed the industrial community on which Subiaco is founded.

Help to make a permanant Wembley Ware Display/ Museum

 a reality.

* Join the Wembley Ware Society

* Write to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority to ask them to consider providing a Wembley Ware Museum on the AFC site.

* Write to the Mayor and Councillors at City of Subiaco to ask for support for a Wembley Ware Museum.

* Raise awareness among others about the importance of putting this heritage item on display in Subiaco.

* Write to the Subiaco Post Newspaper to express your views about a Wembley Ware Museum.

Contact the Wembley Ware Society Inc. if you can help in any way info@wembleyware.org