William Alfred Ismay

William Alfred Ismay or Bill Ismay[1] MBE (10 April 1910 – 13 January 2001) was a librarian, writer and collector in Wakefield, West Yorkshire known for his significant collection of post-war studio pottery.[2] The collection called the W.A. Ismay Collection was bequeathed to the Yorkshire Museum and is one of the world's largest collections of 20th-century studio pottery.[3] It includes work by Bernard Leach, Hans Coper, Shoji Hamada, Takeshi Yasuda, David Leach Dan Arbeid and Lucie Rie.[4]

Thrown vase by Lucie Rie in the W.A. Ismay Collection

Early life

Born in Wakefield, an only child, his father was a trouser presser and his mother a school teacher. He attended Wakefield Grammar School and studied classics at Leeds University. Ismay was stationed in India during the Second World War as a signalman in the Royal Signals Corps[5]

From 1955 Ismay collected 3,600 pots from 500 makers.[6] By the time of his retirement in 1975 he was head librarian at Hemsworth Library. In 2014 a Blue plaque was unveiled in his honour.[7]

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References
  1. "Wakefield Civic Society unveils latest plaque to commemorate the life of William Alfred ('Bill') Ismay MBE". Wakefield Civic Society. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  2. Schutz, Dana (2014). "Matthew Darbyshire: The W.A. Ismay Collection | What's On | Hepworth Wakefield". hepworthwakefield.org. Retrieved 29 January 2014. William Alfred Ismay
  3. "Family 54 - pafn06 - Generated by Personal Ancestral File". ismayons.com. 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. "View Collection - York Art Gallery". yorkartgallery.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  5. Cooper, Emmanuel (2010). "Biographies". ismayons.com. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  6. "Matthew Darbyshire: The W.A. Ismay Collection / What's On / Crafts Council". craftscouncil.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. "Blue plaque to honour pottery collector - Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express". hemsworthandsouthelmsallexpress.co.uk. 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014. he became a librarian
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