William Alfred 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]
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]
William Alfred Ismay
he became a librarian
William Alfred 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]
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]
William Alfred Ismay
he became a librarian