Bernard Leach

Bernard Leach Condiment Jar

Sold for $110

Bernard Leach "Father of a British studio pottery", was a British studio potter and art teacher. He was born in Hong Kong January 5, 1887 and died May 6, 1979 in the United Kingdom. He attended the Slade School of Fine Art during his earlier years. He created pots that had oriental and western influences, along with tableware in earthware and finally stoneware. Leach had a mission to travel cross country to introduce his works and ideas abroad. He had accomplished a lot during his years of ceramics, he wrote a few books and received The Binns Medal for Ceramics from The American Ceramics Society.

Bernard Leach

Bernard Leach was a British potter and art teacher. He is known as the "Father of British studio pottery". The piece I chose from Leach is called "Lidded Pot" which was made in 1935. This one stood out to me because of all the texture and detail in it. In ceramics, you don't see too many pieces by artists that have a lid on them either, and he put a lot of detail into just the lid alone. The texture in the pot makes it look like waves and on top of the texture, there was a lot of design elements that make this piece unique.

Bernard Leach

Bernard Leach was born in Hong Kong in the year of 1887. He always had an interest in art. Leach first worked with clay when he was in Tokyo in 1911. This experience inspired his career and he later established his own business with his friend Shoji Hamada. The studio name was St. Ives Pottery. Today he is considered the "father" of the Studio Pottery Movement and his work is known all around the world. I found this piece of his work and I loved the simplicity of the design and the way the colors compliment each other. 

Joanna Bird (2019) Bernard Leach, https://www.joannabird.com/artist/bernard-leach/
Retrieved February 5, 2019

Bernard Leach

Bernard Leach was born in Hong Kong in 1887.  He was a British studio potter and teacher, he is famously known as the "Father of British studio Pottery".  Leach began his study of the arts when he attended the Slade School of Fine Art it was not until 1911 when he first learned about ceramics.  After ten years of living in the East, he and his wife came back to England to set up Leach Pottery at St. Ives in 1920.  While setting up Leach Pottery, Bernard spent a lot of time rebuilding the kilns, experimenting with different materials, and traveling.  Leach did not become famous overnight.  It was not until after he had written his first book, "A Potters' Book" that he became famous.  The style of pottery that Leach created was based on traditional Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English slipware.  The Korean, Japanese, and Chinese styles are what are seen mostly in the pottery that he has created.  Below is an image of one of Leach's' pieces.  It is a spherical vase that was created around the 1920s.

Bernard Leach

Benard Leach is seen to be one of the most influential potters of the world. He was born in Hong Kong 1887 and brought to Singapore as a young child. He was always known for his excellence in drawing skills and started to dive into pottery around the 1920s. He was introduced to the St. Ives Guild of Handicrafts which is where he did most of his work. Benard is referred to as the Father of British studio pottery, having skills in making fine and ethical pots. Below is a vase made by him that caught my attention. I loved this vase due to the colors and designs that he used. It reminded me of the ocean and the simplicity of what nature has to offer. When looking at this vase, I automatically have feelings of peace. I am assuming that the animals on this vase are fishes and seem to have so much intricate movement when crafting this. The blue and white colors give it a water presence and can be sold for 518.36 dollars currently. It was made in 1974.

 "Four Fish Vase"

Blog #2: Bernard Leach

Facetted Bowl (1961)

Bernard Howell Leach, also known as the "Father of British studio pottery," was a modern British potter who influenced contemporary ceramics.  He lived in Japan until 1920, when he left for Cornwall, England to establish Leach Pottery with his friend, Hamada Shoji.  He made ceramics in tradition of Asain pottery; more specifically raku which he learned from working as an apprentice for Ogata Kenzan.  Leach has written multiple biographies as well as a potter's manual.  I chose this piece of Bernard Leach's because it's multi-dimensional.  It's different because it's not like all the others.  It's small at the bottom and wider at the top, however, there are multiple, flat sides to the bowl which makes it unique.

Bernard Leach

I chose "Cornish Coast Tile" a 1973- 4 piece from the Tate collection by Bernard Leach. I chose this one because I appreciate the details of not only the crashing wave but the surrounding area. He took such a limited space and added details such as the figures that come off as birds flying along the coastline. I think the overall image is beautiful and I like the hint of blue that is added in a very subtle tone throughout the tile. It appears to be a work of art where the more you look at it the more meanings you can find.