Scorched Earth: 100 Years of Southern African Potteries

Scorched Earth is an account of potteries operating in southern Africa during the twentieth century. With this book, Wendy Gers offers a survey of thirty-two small-to-medium sized potteries that engaged in serial production of a variety of domestic and commercial wares. Each chapter is devoted to one pottery and includes a brief history, types of materials and techniques employed, and an account of the people involved in its history and operation. Gers is an independent curator and art historian who specializes in ceramics. She is also a former curator at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, a founding coordinator of an international ceramics research laboratory for the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts (ENSA) Limoges, France, and a research associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Gers has curated several exhibitions, including the First Central China International Ceramics Biennale at the Henan Museum (December 2016-March 2017), and Terra-Nova, Taiwan Ceramics Biennale...