Send us your details if you want to receive our occasional newsletter
Your Name

Your email address

I wish to:

Provocative Pots with Something to Say!

Michael Gaitskell was educated as an historian and that, combined with over 30 years’ experience of making pots, has given him an unusual perspective on pottery. His challenge with this newest group of ‘Provocative Pots with Something to Say’ is to combine the many attributes of pots in a way that provokes thought, as well as pleasing the senses, by seeking to express a philosophical idea or comment on some aspect of our changing society.

Many people who have bought this type of pot from Mill Pottery, say what excellent talking points they make, as they provoke ideas and discussion!

All sizes are approximate


				Conflict Struggle between good and evil Size: 315mm x 119mm

				Facing Reality (View 1) Portrayal in three views of the same pot, of Galileo’s Coat of Arms, Galileo’s telescope, The Solar System, The Inquisition, Darwin, and Evolution Size: 360mm x 230mm ‘Facing Reality’: This ‘duomo’ pot portrays a significant episode in European history that occurred in 1623 which illustrates the human propensity to want to believe in illusion rather than face reality and truth, in order to keep control. It is especially relevant now.

				Inquisition (View 2) Cardinal hats, Inquisition, the Index and suppression of reality ‘Inquisition’. This view portrays the hostile reaction of the church to his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun. The Inquisition, represented by the Cardinals’ hats condemned him to virtual house arrest for his ‘heretical’ challenge to their dogma and authority, and in so doing also condemned Catholic countries to repression and despotism. His book was put on the Index of books which the church censured, rather as totalitarian regimes do today.

				Cat out of the bag! Reality! (View 3) Spirit of enquiry and scientific reasoning ‘Cat out of the Bag’ -the story finally unfolds in this image beginning with the visual expression of this colloquial phrase. The ‘Cat’ was truly ‘out of the Bag’ where great thinkers and scientists could enquire about the world around them, beyond the clutches of the Inquisition. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin put our understanding of existence on a new footing.

				Whistle Blower Pot Admirable humans who ‘face the music’ standing up for what is right, against corruption, dishonesty and hypocrisy Size: 324mm x 190mm

				Celebrity Pot Conveys the vanity and superficiality of vacuous‘celebrities’, the money making and nonsense of giving them undue adulation Size: 410mm x160mm

				Right over Might Pot In this case an explicit example of the Third Reich, juxtaposing the massive dominance of a regime and the diminutive but indomitable bravery of individuals who stand up against tyranny and torture for what is right Size: 345mm x 240mm

				Hot Air Tower Pot (2 views of the same pot) We live in an age of spun and hyped sound bites, which often conceal a truth which is nearer the mark. On one side of the Tower is a bright in-your-face facade with ‘message’. On the reverse is the truth which is more obscure. This example shows ‘You’ve Never had is so Good’ and ‘Fat Cats’!