In the Early Bronze Age, several groups dispersed throughout Europe became recognised for their adaptation and application of the beaker. These bronze utensils were used for holding food and drink, smelting metals or as funeral urns, their versatility meaning the beaker people lived – and died (individuals would be buried alongside theirs) – with these cherished vessels. 

In the last two years, Steve Harrison has continuously explored the form of the humble beaker. Harrison’s inquiry shows a steadily-shifting departure from the traditional bell-shape, developing wider, deeper bodies which slope onto self-supporting bases. The rounded edges call to be cupped, each beaker’s inviting tilt presenting the question of what they themselves could hold. 

Filmmaker Jack McGoldrick sought to provide an answer when he proposed recording a conversation between the potter and food writer Nigel Slater. Echoing Harrison’s interest in the beaker’s functionality, Slater created recipes in response to their shapes and glazes. The harmony found in this pairing of recipe and receptile acts as a reminder that in times of excess and haste, a simple meal enjoyed within the hand’s grasp can offer us a moment to reflect. 

Examining how form can provide direct solutions, Harrison’s beakers and crafted wooden tables bare signs of rigour, routine, repetition. The Age of the Beakers is the speckled fruit of Harrison’s labour, a salt-glazed study which serves a taste of his career-defining investigation. 

The exhibition culminates with an intimate event – hosted by Blue Mountain School alongside Harrison and Slater – wherein collectors of the 30 meal beakers are invited to attend a dinner and talk celebrating the beaker people.