Antique pottery collections from the renowned China Students’ Club close out the season at the Discover Portsmouth Center.

As one of the world’s earliest art forms, ceramics provide a tangible connection with the past, evidencing the people who made and used the objects, as well as those who discarded or treasured them.

“Fired Up” celebrates 75 years of collecting and studying ceramics by the China Students’ Club, which was founded in Boston during the Great Depression and is now the oldest American organization of its kind. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the private collections of members and is on display at the Discover Portsmouth Center until Oct. 28.

The hardships of the 1930s encouraged many people to collect as an investment. And while that may continue to be true for the future, most collectors are also interested in the history, which can tie them to their grandmothers or another generation, or even a remarkable character like George Washington.

A rare tea set owned by Polly Latham, a Boston antiques dealer, commemorates President Washington’s death with an image of his home in Mount Vernon. It was made in China around 1810 and was formerly owned by Captain Daniel Bacon, who sailed there.

Some collectors, such as Portsmouth resident Louise Richardson, have found a local connection through antiques. She says the excavations carried out on Deer Street by Strawbery Banke Museum uncovered early artifacts that got her deeper involved in archeology and the region’s history.

Some of the pieces in the exhibition were passed down by ancestors and date back to the 1700s, but others represent “newer” styles. There are examples of Victorian-era decorating in Portsmouth, such as artificial flowers in gilded vases, part of the collection at the John Paul Jones House Museum.

One of the house’s former tenants, Elizabeth Whitridge Morison, was an avid antique collector before the China Students’ Club was established. An inventory of her collection, part of which was dedicated to the Portsmouth Historical Society, gives insight into antiquing practices of the past.

The scholarly aspect of collecting, learning about the history of materials, artists and time periods, helps build a personal bond. Club members study different types of stoneware and glazes, which can vary by culture, and they follow changes in form, which can be mandated by economics or societal shifts.

For instance, teapots were small when tea was expensive, then became larger and common symbols of hospitality, but lately they are smaller again as they often only serve one person as an escape from company. Alcohol was once common for all ages because it was safer than polluted water, and the cylindrical mugs used today for coffee developed after the beer stein.

One of the most enduring trends in ceramics is the blue and white patterns created in China in the 14th century and imitated in Europe starting 300 years later. Asian architecture and horticulture in inky cobalt harkens back to the club’s namesake.

There are many china cabinets on display, full of rare and valuable finds—plates, tiles, teapots, mugs, vases and decorations—all organized by form or function and labeled by date and material.

Collecting isn’t always so intellectual. After all, ceramics are a visual art. “Sometimes we are simply drawn to ceramics for their inherently satisfying aesthetics,” one placard at the center reads.

The Discover Portsmouth Center is at the corner of Middle and Islington streets in Portsmouth, 603-436-8433.