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| David
Leach |
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Remarkable
potter whose skill and technical ability
created some exquisite masterpieces of the potter's art. |
| David
Leach took an active interest in the Leach Pottery Restoration Project.
He was most supportive, the members of the project were heartened
by his advice and the keen interest he showed. David was particularly
pleased that the restoration plans feature a strong education and
training element and that the pottery would again be a centre of ideas
and inspiration for future generations of potters and visitors alike. |
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The
potter David Leach who has died aged 93 was the eldest son of the
potter Bernard Leach. Although born in Japan his family returned to
England whilst he was still a child. On Bernard Leach's return to
England in 1920 with his young family and Japanese friend, the potter
Shoji Hamada, Bernard bought a house in Carbis Bay. His intention
was to set up a pottery nearby in St.Ives. The pottery was a heady
mixture of idealism, aesthetics a radical workshop concept and was
to be a continuing struggle for survival.
But from these ideas, standards and struggle emerged a construct that
was to have a significant influence on the direction of 20th century
pottery.
David was sent as a boarder to a progressive school in Dorset which
was chosen for its wide curriculum, particularly in the arts, natural
sciences and philosophy. On finishing his education in 1930 he returned
to St.Ives and joined his father at the Leach Pottery. Bernard Leach,
though firmly committed to producing individual pots bearing a maker's
personal mark, never the less advocated that a workshop should also
produce utilitarian pottery for everyday use. David realised such
production required consistency of skill which at that time was unavailable.
He found that the pottery was manned by an ever changing group of
students who came to hear the teachings of Bernard Leach and learn
the Japanese techniques of pottery making being used.
Many of the early pioneer potters such as Michael Cardew and Katherine
Pleydell Bouverie had left. Luckily the already accomplished thrower,
Harry Davis, was working at the pottery. Under his guidance David
became a highly skilled thrower.
In 1934 with his father away visiting China and Japan, and with the
encouragement of the Elmhirst's (of Dartington Hall) long-term patrons
of Bernard and of the pottery, David enrolled on a three year long
pottery course at Stoke on Trent. At the time Bernard saw this as
an act of betrayal. On his return to the pottery after three years,
and very much to his surprise, David was given responsibility for
the workshop management. He immediately initiated dramatic changes,
realising that to produce consistency in the standard ware production
a team of permanent staff had to be assembled. To do this David recruited
and offered apprenticeships to local school leavers. His first local
recruit was Bill Marshall who joined the pottery in 1938 and later
became Forman and worked at the pottery for nearly four decades.
Success managing the Leach Pottery did not preclude David from a personal
urge to make pots of his own and in 1949 he exhibited over one-hundred
pieces of his own work at a local St.Ives gallery. He was also expanding
his activities in other areas too, advising on the establishment of
a pottery in Norway and spending a year (1953-54) running the pottery
department at Loughborough College of Art, also starting a pottery
along with Colin Pearson for the Carmelite Friars at Aylesford in
Kent in 1954.
The Leach Pottery was by this time on a firm financial footing and
with the arrival of Janet Leach, Bernard's third wife, who showed
a willingness and capability to take over the managerial function
with the assistance of Bill Marshall, David was free to leave and
start his own pottery.
David left in 1955 founding the Lowerdown Pottery at Bovey Tracey
in Devon, where he started producing a range of earthenware tableware
that matched the highest standards produced by has father at the Leach
Pottery. The production of earthenware continued for the first few
years while a large two-chamber stoneware kiln was being built. In
1961 production of stoneware from this kiln began and his unique gifts
as a potter began to emerge. Continuing to experiment with glazes,
stoneware and porcelain he had a breakthrough in 1967 producing a
porcelain body that was light, translucent and capable of being thrown
thinly without distorting. This body and his skill in using it established
him as the leading potter of the day. His bowls with their sharp precise
fluting, each flute requiring a steady hand and calm inner peace,
are some of the masterpieces of ceramics in the 20th century. Both
contemporary and ancient melded into one.
Whilst David made pots he also enjoyed and found time to lecture,
demonstrate and advise. Harrow School of Art in 1963, Dartington Pottery
Workshop 1976, Chairman of the Crafts Potters Association in 1967
and Chairman of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen 1986-87 are to name just
a few of his connections. He had many one-man exhibitions, his first
at the CPA was in 1966 he was to exhibit regularly at the CPA for
next 30 years, in 1967 he won the gold medal of the International
Academy of Ceramics. He also exhibited in New York, Washington and
Tokyo and his work is represented in over forty public collections
in Britain alone.
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