Passionate Potters: From De Morgan to Leach
Pottery that speaks to the soul
William De Morgan, friend of William Morris, rediscovered the secrets of Near Eastern lustre glazes, the Martin brothers produced eccentric salt-glazed pottery, Sir Edmond Elton combined startling glazes with exotic forms and Bernard Leach married the arts of Japan and England creating a legacy still alive today.William Morris led a revolution against the products of the machine age. The first of our ‘passionate potters’, William de Morgan, was a friend of Morris who rediscovered the secrets of Near Eastern lustre glazes. In contrast, the eccentric and argumentative Martin Brothers created a range of elaborate salt glazed pots unparalleled in their imaginative breadth. Sir Edmund Elton, the ‘potter baronet’, made pots which combine startling glazes with exotic forms. And finally, Bernard Leach, the father of English studio pottery, not only married the arts of Japan and England but created a legacy that is still alive today. This lecture explores the lives of these truly passionate potters and celebrates their extraordinary and beautiful creations.
Dr Julian Richards was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1992 and has long been involved in teaching and outreach projects, lecturing widely in continuing education and researching & presenting programmes on history & archaeology for the BBC. He has just curated the new permanent ceramics gallery for Salisbury Museum. He is passionate about Stonehenge, pots and old cars.