Blackhills Pottery

Blackhills Pottery sits on the Blackhills Estate outside Elgin, where John Christie has worked as a potter since returning to Scotland in 1983 after training in Wales. Christie began working with clay at art school in Liverpool in 1965 and became a full-time potter in 1971, giving him close to five decades in the trade. He fires his stoneware and porcelain in a wood-fired kiln built to hold 64 cubic feet, using glazes he mixes himself from locally dug clay, vegetable ash and feldspar rather than commercial glaze compounds. The result is functional, country-style pottery: bowls, jugs, mugs and other domestic pieces intended for everyday use rather than display. The showroom on the estate opens by appointment, and visitors are asked to call ahead before calling in to view or buy work. Christie continues to show at pottery fairs, including Potfest events in Scotland, and his pieces are held in the Scottish Potters Association's directory of practising makers in the region.