When Kate Gordon was a kid, her parents would distract her by giving her clay to play with. Today, she’s creative director of Robert Gordon Australia, the country’s largest production pottery studio. The pottery business was originally established by her father Robert Gordon in 1979 from the tin shed at the back of their Gembrook family home, an hour east of Melbourne.

A life spent by the kiln

A life spent by the kiln or throwing pots, one of Kate’s earliest pottery memories is at age four, sitting on her father’s knee as he threw a vessel at the pottery wheel.

“He glazed it for me and wrote ‘Dad loves Kate’ on the bottom,” she says of the vessel she still owns 40 years later.

The family’s connection with pottery stretches back to Kate’s grandmother June Dyson.

“She’d studied ceramics in 1945 and left to start her own pottery in Black Rock with my grandpa,” says Kate.

June and husband Colin Gordon sold pieces to restaurants and stores. The next generation – Robert and Barbara Gordon, Kate’s parents – made spice jars and hand-thrown pieces, and were a regular presence at St Kilda markets in the 1980s.

A legacy is moulded into shape

Kate says her parents would “always give us clay to keep us quiet”, which in time saw each of their four children flourish into skilled potters. Kate pushed clay through a garlic press to make miniature trees, while oldest sister Hannah sculpted a Princess Diana figure after the royal couple visited a nearby town in 1983.

During the 1980s, the blockbuster appetite for ceramics saw the family business move from the original “rickety tin shed” to purpose-built headquarters in Pakenham. The decades that followed firmly established the family business as Australia’s largest production pottery.

Domestically, Robert Gordon Australia makes over 300,000 pieces annually. Each handcrafted object goes through 12 sets of hands, beginning with the master mould maker, who sculpts everything first.

The next generation steps up

Kate crafted pots at university and worked at the company’s glazing tables through her degree. One student design – an ‘Alice’ mug – was bought by T2 and ended up on banners at Chadstone Shopping Centre. In 2000, she became Robert Gordon Australia’s head designer. “That evolved through the years to a more creative direction role,” she says.

The business is now overseen by the family’s third pottery-making generation, with siblings Hannah and Bobby joining her.

“We’re all directors of the company, but we all do have different skill sets,” says Kate.

Hannah covers imports and retail. Bobby, an architect, oversees their interiors range, which spans basins and lighting. The fourth Gordon sibling, Sam, runs his own pottery brand.

The company’s designs grace tabletops of acclaimed restaurants here, including Melbourne’s Attica and Sydney’s AALIA, and overseas.

“It’s the pinnacle to have your pieces in these places,” says Kate. “The world is full of plate-flippers these days. Everyone’s ‘oh, I like the look of that plate’ and they look at the bottom and they seek us out.”

Robert Gordon Australia often tailors pieces for restaurants, shaping tableware specifically to prevent sauce pooling. Collaborations range from bespoke work for three-hatted Melbourne restaurants such as Vue de Monde to fast-food franchise Grill’d.

An institution looks to the future

Sustainability is another focus that’s important to the Gordon family: all clay is recycled, rainwater collected, and objects have long been wrapped in newspaper.

“We’ve covered our whole roof in solar panels,” Kate says. “We currently have two kilns completely offset by solar.”

As for the future, will the next generation take over? While they’re “a bit young to make any decisions”, they proudly point out pieces in public.

“They say, ‘that’s Robert Gordon, mum!’ – the kids are right onto it.”

Robert Gordon Australia now celebrates over 75 years of pottery-making in Australia. While some pieces are produced overseas, Kate is proud of how over 300,000 objects are shaped by 35 local craftspeople. One employee has been with them for 27 years, while some workers from the tin shed days only recently retired. As they expand their interiors range to keep production local, the human element remains key to what they do. “Our team is everything.”

Learn more about Robert Gordon Australia here.

Lee Tran Lam