JB Priestley: Bringing a piece of literary legend's history home to Bradford

Now that very vase, sold at auction after his death in 1984, is returned to his home city as it is donated to the University of Bradford's special collections.

It's been missing for decades, hidden away in the donor's private collection, and will now join several of his personal items which are housed in the same library that bears his name.

The J.B. Priestley Archive, featuring the author's shirts, berets, and artist materials as well as a typewriter, is one of the university's most treasured collections.

"To have this object, kindly donated to us, is very special," said archivist Julie Parry.

"The vase is a unique object described so wonderfully by Priestley in ‘English Journey’ and to have it with the rest of his archive adds an extra depth to the collection.

"We are extremely grateful to the donors for transferring it to the university."

John Boynton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright and social commentator known for works such as An Inspector Calls.

A headmaster's son, born in Manningham in Bradford in 1894, his social beliefs were to bring him into conflict often and he refused a knighthood from the Queen.

He was to decorate this vase in 1933, recalling the account in English Journey which was published the following year.

On visiting the famous pottery factory to try his hand at decorating, he had noted it was much harder than it looked.

Indeed, he adds: “I did the flower and leaf decoration at the top very well... but the middle part, in which one had to shave a small slice away at equal distances... was not good.

"It did not look good then; it does not look good now.”

He later laments that his “children pretended to admire it”, adding: “Every time I look at it, I wish I could try that middle bit again.”

This October the JB Priestley Library is to mark its 50th anniversary, having been opened by the author himself in 1975.

As well as the typewriter and some personal possessions, its archive is home to a large number of Priestley's smoking pipes.

To British society, said Ms Parry, Priestley was a theatre entertainer but also a man unafraid to question societal change and failed promises by politicians.

"Priestley was immensely proud to have the University of Bradford’s library, named after him since its opening in 1975," she added.

The then Chancellor, Harold Wilson, had written a letter to the Vice-Chancellor Ted Edwards on the proposal to name the library after Priestley.

It would be a "fitting tribute", he had written, to Priestley and to his work.

With the vase sold at auction after the author's death, it has been donated by the same person who bought it almost 40 years ago.

The university’s special collections houses more than 150 collections of archives and rare books, accessible to all in the JB Priestley Library by appointment Monday to Thursday.

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