All Fired Up
The Creative use of Clay in British Studio Pottery
A published author and well-regarded Academic Registrar at Glasgow School of Art, Michael Moulder, aside from his academic talents, was also a practising artist, printmaker and potter in his own right. Graduating from Camberwell College of Arts in London, Michael’s interest in studio ceramics led to collaborations with David Leach, an instrumental figure in the success of St. Ives pottery.
Lot 478 | [§] BERNARD LEACH (1887-1979)
STONEWARE BOWL, MID-20TH CENTURY | tenmoku glaze with incised diagonal banded decoration, impressed St Ives and artist's seal marks
16.5cm diameter | Estimate £300-400 + fees
Often credited as the father of British studio ceramics, Bernard Leach brought the art of the exotic and oriental to the traditional craft of pottery-making in the early 1900s. At the time, pottery in Britain was very much seen as a lesser art-form: inferior to contemporary paintings by Picasso or Matisse for example. After initially setting out to teach the art of print-making in Japan, Leach quickly became fascinated by the Japanese potter’s wheel. After training with some of the country’s master-potters he was introduced to Shoji Hamada, whose partnership was fundamental to the development of modern British studio ceramics.
Lot 480 | [§] SHOJI HAMADA (1894-1978)
STONEWARE TEA BOWL, MID-20TH CENTURY | with incised decoration, tenmoku glaze and white slip interior | 8cm high | Estimate £250-350 + fees
In the idyllic setting of Cornwall, Leach and Hamada produced a distinctive style of ware; characterised by utilitarian forms, rough natural glazes and minimalist decoration which often looked to Japanese calligraphy for inspiration. Common motifs included leaping salmon and flying birds, along with an array of decoration techniques brush involving work, stencilling, wax-resist and fluting. Reacting against the industrial age of mass-production Leach believed that pottery should above all express a sense of integrity, authority and purity of form.
Many successful British potters began their artistic career at St.Ives pottery, having been trained by Leach and Hamada. Among the most distinguished were Bernard's American wife Janet, his eldest son David, and Michael Cardew, all of whom developed their own unique style based on Leach’s ideology.
Lot 479 | [§] MICHAEL CARDEW (1901-1983) FOR ABUJA POTTERY
STONEWARE SOY SAUCE POT & COVER, CIRCA 1943 | of globular form with incised banding, tenmoku glaze | 9.5cm high;
and a MICHAEL CARDEW CUP, with ribbed band decoration, tenmoku glaze, indistinct seal marks I 7.5cm high (2) | Estimate £250-350 + fees
Cardew’s work is largely recognised by the intense colours he applied to slipware designs. Like Leach, his extensive travels heavily informed his unique artistic style. Cardew spent a considerable time working and teaching at the Abuja Pottery in West Africa. Following this, the stoneware he produced tended to be much darker, reflecting the earthy tones of the landscape around him. In this example (lot 479), a rich tenmoku glaze covers the pots, each one displays the free and original handwork of Cardew’s incised decoration, inspired by the wares of Shoji Hamada.
Lot 490 | [§] DAVID LEACH (1911-2005)
STONEWARE VASE, CIRCA 1980 | wax resist decoration under iron slip, incised artist's mark | 6.5cm high;
a DAVID LEACH PORCELAIN BOWL, iron and cobalt brush decoration under a clear matt glaze | 11cm diameter;
and a WILLIAM MARSHALL ST. IVES STONEWARE BOTTLE VASE, impressed seal mark, incised artist's mark | 8cm high (3) | Estimate £250-350 + fees
The success of St. Ives pottery after the Second World War was, in many ways, due to David Leach’s transformative production methods. Working largely with stoneware and porcelain, his pots display an incredible degree of control and restraint, the elegant beauty of the sweeping brushwork decoration in this example (lot 490) draws heavily from his father’s wares.
Janet Leach’s bold stoneware designs are unequivocally Japanese inspired, in the same manner as Bernard Leach’s pots. The bold, rustic nature of the clay and flat cut edges of her wares pay homage to her husband’s artistic vision which advocates form over function and simplicity over the ornate. A clear fusion of East meets West, Janet Leach’s designs, much like this example, captures the vitality of modern design which has continued in British studio pottery-making today.
Lot 489 | [§] JANET LEACH (1918-1997)
STONEWARE JAR & COVER, MID-20TH CENTURY | with impressed diagonal cord decoration, tenmoku glaze | 10.5cm high;
and a JANET LEACH VASE, waisted form with tenmoku glaze | 10cm high, both with impressed St Ives and artist's seal marks (2) | Estimate £200-300 + fees
Through Leach’s pioneering artistic vision, modern British ceramics grew into a form of contemporary art in its own right. These functional domestic wares now served as vessels of artistic ideas concerning form and aesthetic, where traditional pottery techniques could be challenged and transformed.
Illustrated in main thumbnail:
Lot 487 [§] BERNARD LEACH (1887-1979) | PORCELAIN POT WITH COVER, MID-20TH CENTURY decorated with an oak leaf pattern, impressed St Ives seal mark, painted artist's initials BL | 12cm high | Estimate £150-200 + fees
Date for Your Diary
AUCTION
Decorative Arts: Design since 1860 Auction
25 October 2017 at 10am
