Now on show at the Silk Top Hat Gallery

Now on show at the Silk Top Hat Gallery and Isaac Smart's, Duncan White's miniature ceramic owl pots.

Ludlow's Duncan White has been crafting miniature pots for many years. Many a doll's house dresser, up and down the country, is graced by an array of his tiny pieces in the style of English country pots and his work used to be regularly displayed at the International Doll's House Show, Miniatura. Indeed some are now re-appearing on the open market misidentified as original antiques. He is an enthusiastic collector and expert on antique ceramics as a packed audience at a local Civic Society lecture learned.

Among his most recent creations is a tiny flock of miniature owls which reflect his interest in antique slipware. Just like the originals but a tenth of the size they are reminiscent of 'Ozzy the Owl' the famous rarity brought into the Antiques Road Show by a family who used him as a flower vase. Identified by expert Henry Sandon as dating back to 1680 and valued at more than £20,000, Ozzy now resides at Stoke-on-Trent's museum.

The owls are just a small part of Duncan White's oeuvre. It is difficult to classify the totality of his constructions. They appear at first glance to suggest tiny but valuable archaeological finds of the kind that may be found locked away in a museum's display case. He says, 'I like to think of my work as three-dimensional cartoons. I hope my pieces are amusing on one level, but quite serious on another. Many are comments on the way nature can best get back at some members of the human race for what they do to her – other pieces are just daft...' Although the work is witty and amusing there are serious undertones, frequently these relate to the destruction of our natural landscape. His objects often take the form of small glass cases or ceramic boxes in which a collection of figures or objects is displayed but not fixed, both the box and its contents constitute the artwork, and can be arranged in different permutations.

Duncan White was born in 1959. In 1984 after working as a stores assistant in a Royal Navy aircraft yard in Wiltshire, he did a Foundation Course at Swindon College of Art and Design. He then went to North Staffordshire Polytechnic where he took a multi-disciplinary course specialising in ceramics. In 1987 he moved to South Glamorgan Institute of Art and Design where he was taught by Alan Barret-Danes and Mick Casson and gained an M.A. In 1988 he moved to Shropshire working at Culmington Pottery. The following year he set up his studio workshop making items such as architectural features on a commission basis. With the help of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme he also made exhibition pieces. He makes intriguing models in many media, ceramic, wood, plaster of Paris, cast lead. He also spends his time at the potter's wheel in his garden shed making ceramic miniatures which are part of our regular display at Isaac Smart's. He is currently working on a huge ongoing project modelling a mid-nineteenth century Cornish tin mine.

For further information or images 01584 875363 or exhibitions@silktophatgallery.co.uk or silktophatgallery.wordpress.com.