author
Bernard Rackham
1876–1964
A leading museum curator and writer on ceramics and stained glass, he helped shape how these arts were studied in Britain. His long career at the Victoria and Albert Museum made him an important guide to medieval glass, pottery, and decorative art.
1 Audiobook
A Book of Porcelain: Fine examples in the Victoria & Albert Museum
by Bernard Rackham
About the author
Born in London on 26 July 1876, Bernard Rackham became one of Britain's best-known scholars of ceramics and stained glass. He studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and then spent his professional life at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he built a reputation as a careful curator, lecturer, and writer.
Rackham is especially associated with the museum's ceramics collections, eventually serving as Keeper of the Department of Ceramics. Alongside that work, he published widely on pottery, porcelain, and medieval stained glass, helping to bring serious scholarly attention to subjects that were often treated simply as decorative crafts.
He died on 13 February 1964 in Liss, Hampshire. Remembered as both a museum man and a prolific author, he left behind a body of work that still interests readers who enjoy art history, design, and the stories behind historic objects.