Introduction

Joseph William Mellor was an Otago graduate who became a ceramicist, a cartoonist, and a famous chemist. Indeed, his single-handed effort to complete his 16 volume definitive work A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry (1922-1937), amounting to over 16 million words, has never been equalled. From humble beginnings and self-initiated study at King Edward Technical School, Mellor obtained a place at the University of Otago, where he won a scholarship to study at Owens College, Manchester. As Principal of the Technical College (now part of Staffordshire University) at Stoke-on-Trent, he worked on refining refractory processes, especially high-temperature ceramics relevant to the steel industry. Because of his contribution to the World War One effort he was offered a peerage, which he turned down.

Mellor retained a boyish sense of humour all his life, and he was dubbed by colleagues the 'Peter Pan of Ceramics'. He was also a skilled cartoonist and his Uncle Joe's Nonsense (1934) contains a collection of humorous stories illustrated with clever pen sketches. In 1927 he was elected to the Royal Society for work related to ceramics, and just before he died in May 1938, he was awarded a C.B.E.

This exhibition highlights Mellor's life, work and legacy. It covers his early years in Kaikorai Valley and work at Sargood's Boot Factory; his study at the University of Otago; his marriage to Emma Bakes; his many publications; his friends and contemporaries; and his involvement in ceramic societies world-wide. Annual memorial lectures, a Mellor Professorship at Otago, and a Mellor street and park in Kaikorai Valley, Dunedin, continue his legacy. His personal archives, ceramics and books are found at Special Collections, University of Otago, the Otago Museum, and the Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library.

Special thanks to Mellor Professor Lyall Hanton and Theresa Mendoza for their work in curating this exhibition.

In the Beginning

Joseph W. Mellor
Hurunui
The Mellor Family c. 1891 from Transactions of the British Ceramic Society. Mellor Memorial Number, Vol. XXXVIII.
H.S. Fish from Cyclopedia of New Zealand, vol. 4
Sargood, Son, & Ewen from Stone's Otago and Southland Directory
H. Driver, Driver’s Bookshop, to Longmans, Green and Co.
University of Otago Graduates, 1897
Joseph William Mellor. Dunedin Boy who became the World’s Greatest Authority on Inorganic Chemistry
Blue Leeds Fireclay Company bowl

Early studies

Manuscript Notebook, no. 17
Manuscript notebook, no. 17
Manuscript notebook, no. 17
Chinese teapot (Jingdezhen, Jiangxi region, China)
Everett Shorthand Society Certificate for Joseph W. Mellor
Plane Trigonometry: with the Use of Logarithms

University of New Zealand (Otago)

Testimonial letter for Joseph W. Mellor
Professor James Gow Black
Testimonial letter for Joseph W. Mellor
George M. Thomson from Cyclopedia of New Zealand, vol. 4
BSc Graduation
Plaque commemorating Joseph W. Mellor’s time as a student at the University of Otago

The Otago Chess Club

Otago Chess Club congratulations to Joseph Mellor
Joseph W. Mellor to Members of the Otago Chess Club
Photograph of Joseph W. Mellor with members of the Chess Congress
New Zealand Championship Chess Tournament<br />
J.W. Mellor’s monogram from his chess set

Lincoln College and the 'Boss'

The Holy Bible
Emma Mellor
Joseph W. Mellor to Emma Bakes
‘My Prison’ School of Agriculture, Lincoln, Canterbury, NZ
Job Mellor to Joseph W. Mellor

Owens College, Manchester

Edward Fiddes, Owens College, Manchester, to Joseph W. Mellor
Owens College staff and students
H.B. Dixon, Owens College, Manchester, to Joseph W. Mellor
Harold Baily Dixon
Higher Mathematics for Students of Chemistry and Physics
Albert R. Merz to Joseph W. Mellor

Stoke-On-Trent Pottery School

Clay and Pottery Industries, Vol. 1
Dresden Plate
Clay and Pottery Industries, Vol. 1

Potters & Friends

Francis (Frank) H. Wedgwood to Joseph W. Mellor
Francis H. Wedgwood
Wedgwood cup and saucer
‘Memorial Lecture on Mr. M. L. E. Solon’ from Transactions of the English Ceramic Society, Vol. XIV
Photograph of Bernard Moore, c.1930. From Transactions of the Ceramic Society, Vol. XXXVI
‘The Absent-minded Beggar’ from Transactions of the Ceramic Society, Vol. XXXVI

Green and Co.: Publishers

Introduction to Modern Inorganic Chemistry
Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry
Longmans Green & Company luncheon invitation to J.W. Mellor
Chemical Statics and Dynamics
C.J. Longman to J. W. Mellor

Charles Griffin and Co.: Publishers

F.G. Blight to J.W. Mellor
A Treatise on Quantitative Inorganic Analysis
C. Rae Griffin to J. W. Mellor
Printing Estimate folder

J.L. Inglis and Mellor's War Effort

John K. H. Inglis
‘Chemical Theory. History of Inorganic Chemistry from the Time of Lavoisier’ from Inglis's Notebook
Fired kiln cones
Pottery, for Artists, Craftsmen & Teachers
New Zealanders and Science

National Liberal Club

Form of Nomination
Low’s Company. Fifty Portraits
‘Ptomaine Poisoning’

Ceramic Societies

Log-book of the Voyage of the Ceramic Society to New York
The Ceramic Society visiting Czechoslovakia
‘America honours Dr Mellor’ from the Evening Sentinel
Photograph from Transactions [of the British Ceramic Society], Vol. XXXIV

Uncle Joe's Nonsense

J.W. Allen to J.W. Mellor
Arthur Ellis and Agnes Mellor, Wedding Day
‘Science versus Rule-of-Thumb – a Draw!’ from Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
Felix Singer to J.W. Mellor
Orange Czechoslovakian Dog

Fellow of the Royal Society

J.W. Mellor to Sir William Jackson Pope
Royal Society (London) Election notice for J.W. Mellor
William ‘Wullie’ Goodlet to J. W. Mellor
William 'Wullie' Goodlet from A History of Otago (1869-1919)
Ruby rock or Goodletite.

Ernest Rutherford and the Imperial College London

Ernest Rutherford to J. W. Mellor
Rutherford. Scientist Supreme
Baron Rutherford
J. W. Mellor to the Official Secretary, [High Commissioner for New Zealand], New Zealand Government Offices, London
Official Secretary, [High Commissioner for New Zealand] to J. W. Mellor

Mellor's Monumental Work

A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry. Vol. 1
Emma Mellor to Dr Wilkins
L.S. Theobald to J.W. Mellor
A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry. Vol. 16 proofs
R.G. Longman to J.W. Mellor

Mellor's Legacy

‘The Crazing and Peeling of Glazes’, Transactions of the Ceramic Society, Vol. XXXIV
‘The Durability of Pottery Frits, Glazes, Glasses, and Enamels in Service’, Transactions of the Ceramic Society, Vol. XXXIV
Japanese Bowl
‘Treatment’ cartoon sequence
Mellor Library, List 42-44
Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 17, no. 6
‘Death of Dr. J.W. Mellor’
C.B.E. Medal, Joseph William Mellor
Secretary, Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, to Emma Mellor
Charles Griffin and Co. Ltd, Arthur Downer to Emma Mellor
Mellor House
Mellor Restaurant menu, Otago Polytechnic
J. W. Mellor
Claude Louis Bertollet

Additional images

Interior of Joseph Mellor’s home
Mellor Library, List 42-44
Joseph W. Mellor's bookplate
Mellor's chess set
Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
Joseph William Mellor
Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, Volumes 1-16
Joseph Mellor smoking a pipe
Hand-drawn diagrams of the polymorphs of silica
Joseph W. Mellor
Joseph William Mellor
Interior of Joseph Mellor's home
Interior of Joseph Mellor's home
‘Tuscan China’ tea pot
‘Tuscan China’ coffee pot
China plate
'The First Technical Research Association in Quest of Knowledge' from Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
'The President's Christmas Dream of Spring' from Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
'I Remonstrate Seriously with Louise the Coquette' from Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
'The Mathematics of Pernicious Anaemia' from Uncle Joe’s Nonsense for Young and Old Children
<p>Joseph William Mellor from Transactions of the British Ceramic Society. Mellor Memorial Number, Vol. XXXVIII</p>
Hugh N. Parton (Mellor Professor 1965-1971)
Robert E. Corbett (Mellor Professor 1972-1982)
Arthur D. Campbell (Mellor Professor 1983-1987)
David A. Buckingham (Mellor Professor 1988-1996)
Brian H. Robinson (Mellor Professor 1996-2006)
Robin A. J. Smith (Mellor Professor 2007-2012)
Lyall R. Hanton (Mellor Professor 2013- )