Klytie Pate Ceramics

Australian ceramics of the past two decades have consistently reflected the astonishing diversity in style and philosophy which is manifest in the international movement. In fact, this multi-disciplinary character is now so firmly implanted in Australian work that it is possible to identify ‘factions’ which appear to have allied themselves with specific foreign movements. For example, a good deal of the predominantly non-functional work is succored by the so-called West Coast aesthetic of nonchalance, satire, social or political commentary, expressionist technique and an all-pervasive laid-back humour. Other work reflects the gentler, introspective approach taken by the group of English potters including Rogers, Poncelet, Burnett and Barton, in the pursuit of disturbingly fragile, paper-thin and chalky-white vessels of bone china or porcelain. Meanwhile, the longer established anglo-oriental tradition with its attendant doctrines centred on a stylistic economy of means and a demonstrably craftsmanlike attitude, continues to attract a strong following. So too, does the more recent movement concerned with the skilful manipulation of industrial techniques in the construction of realist, New Realist, trompe l’oeil and surrealistically conceived assemblages.

In short, it is extremely difficult to identify a mainstream of activity in this country and it is equally taxing to attempt to identify an element – be it theoretical concern or formal mannerism – which may be used to gauge what is altogether indigenous in the most recent tradition of Australian ceramics.
How easy it is, therefore, to be swept up in what amounts to a stylistic maelstrom and to lose sight of the significance of an earlier and richly experimental phase in the development of Australian ceramics which occurred in the period between the two World Wars. It is to a small group of Melbourne-based potters that credit is due for this early flowering of a distinctly national style.

The members of that group – and this is not to suggest that individuals were bound together by adherence to any sort of manifesto or even by way of a formalized association – had trained at the Working Men’s College (now the Roval Melbourne Institute of Technology). Included in the group were Allan Lowe (b. 1907), John Knight (b. 1910) and Klytie Pate (b. 1912). The work produced by these artists in the 1930s and 1940s reveals the then current predilection for decorating surfaces by means of carving or incising; the application of modelled ornament as handles or finials and the bold and extensive experimentation with a variety of exotic and high-keyed glazes.

This last factor arose largely from necessity as supplies of materials were scarce at the time and available technical information was confined to the few references held by the State Library.

In retrospect, it seems probable that the difficulty of obtaining first-hand knowledge of developments and technical innovation in contemporary English and European ceramics and the absence of an established local tradition in which to identify appropriate standards and models of style, acted as a stimulus rather than an impediment to the members of this Melbourne artistic community.

Compelled to fall back on their own creative resources and an astute faculty of observation, these potters forged a particular style in which we now recognize an emergent tradition of Australian studio pottery.

Prophetically, the first purchases of modern Australian pottery by the National Gallery of Victoria were made in 1947 and were pieces by Pate and Lowe.
The current exhibition represents an endeavour to document the contribution made by one of the group, Klytie Pate, to that early tradition of Australian pottery and to bring together a representative cross section of the pottery made by her in the period 1932 to 1982.”Introduction”, Klytie Pate Ceramics, Geoffrey Edwards, 1983