Collection responsibility: European ceramics, glass, precious and base metalwork from circa 1800 to 1945.

Research interests: Staffordshire ceramics, especially Minton & Co.; British pottery made for export; printing on pottery; the Renaissance revival in Britain and Italy.

Claire Blakey’s specialism is ceramics, particularly Staffordshire ceramics of the 19th and early 20th century. Her research interests include the Minton pottery factory, the Renaissance revival in Britain and Italy, British pottery made for export, and the collection and display of pottery making and related techniques.

Claire joined National Museums Scotland in 2020. Prior to this, she was project curator for the redevelopment of the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, where she was responsible for the British and European decorative arts collections. She researched and developed new displays and galleries for the museum, including working in collaboration with community groups.

Before moving to Scotland, Claire spent nearly a decade working in curatorial roles at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. Her projects there included researching and cataloguing the collections of Italian Renaissance maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), East Asian ceramics and decorative arts as well as the collection of Staffordshire ceramics. She curated a variety of exhibitions, including 'Ceramic Cities: dialogues in design', on the shared ceramic histories of Jingdezhen and Stoke-on-Trent, ‘Ahead of the Curve: new china from China’ and 'Ceramic Empire: The trade in Staffordshire pottery'.

Claire has a BA in History from the University of Nottingham and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester.