Bernard Leach was another of the 20th century's influential potters and writers. He was born in Hong Kong in 1887 and his family moved to Japan the same year and spent his early years between these two countries with his family. He went to England first in 1897 and was educated there, finishing his art training at the London School of Art in 1908. He returned to Japan in 1909, with his etching press in tow, with the plan to teach etching to Japanese students. He would spend 11 years there, during which time he had minimal success finding students, and instead found an interest in ceramics. The story goes that he attended a party one evening of artists and writers. The entertainment for the evening turned out to be a raku firing and guests were presented with already thrown pots to paint with glazes. The pots were then raku fired and Leach was spell-bound as the red hot bowl came glistening from the kiln. Guests were presented with their pots as 'party favors.' Leach set out to learn more, and apprenticed himself to the current raku master, a descendant of Ogata Kenzan. He would prove an adept student as eventually earned the title of the current Kenzan, an honor unheard of for an outsider. During his eleven years in Japan, Leach met many artists including the young Shoji Hamada, and they became very close friends. Hamada during this time decided to abandon his plans to become a painter. Hamada had been studying ceramic technology at the Ceramic Testing Institute in Kyoto, but was more interested in the hands on making of the pottery. Hamada was inspired by Leach's example and decided to become a potter. He would accompany Leach when he returned to England in 1920, and the two of them worked together to set up Leach's pottery studio at St. Ives in Cornwall. Leach had learned pottery making techniques under the raku kenzan; Hamada knew the technical components of glaze composition and kiln firing from his work at the institute. Together, they had the necessary skills and information to set up a studio. Hamada would stay in England for three years with Leach before his return to Japan to go to Mashiko to learn and work. Their friendship spanned both their lifetimes and combined with their association with Soetsu Yanagi and the Mingei movement these two potters had more impact on the aesthetics and style of 20th century pottery in the world than anyone else. Leach was not only a prolific potter, but his books, such as his 1940 A Potter's Book brought the ideas of Yanagi to a western audience. This book is still a classic must read for any potter.
This particular piece by Leach shows how he tried to incorporate the
Asian ideas of native clays, glazes, and traditions in England. He looked
back to his own 'roots,' to English slipware for inspiration. This plate,
so obviously an homage to Thomas Toft is a prime example. The border is
pure Toft, down to Leach's signature. The central motif of the jumping rabbit
however betrays a Japanese approach to pattern and image. Leach was a skilled
draftsman and his notebooks are filled with sketches of patters he would
use. He taught several generations of students, many of whom would go on
to teach others, keeping the 'links of the chain' of knowledge in the techniques
and art of pottery intact from one generation to the next.
Slipware Plate, by Bernard Leach, Earthenware with slip trailed and sgraffito design, around 1950
