Saint Ive’s a visit to Leach  Pottery

O LORD, you know me by searching me. You know when I sit down and when I get up You understand my thoughts… You are acquainted with all my ways.

Psalms 139 : 1-3 (Sandy says thank you for this.)

All pictures and information in this post are by permission of Leach Pottery Studios and Museum.

Bernard Leach (1887-1979)

1887 Born in Hong Kong.

Lived in England from 1897.

Went to Japan to teach etching 1908.

Attended a raku party. This was a pivotal moment.

He became a student rather than a teacher. His teacher was Shigekichi, also known as Kenzen VI.

Bernard Leach returned to England with Shoji Hamada and with a local philanthropist Francis Horne established Leach Pottery.

Shoji Hamada returns to Japan and in Bernard Leach’s own words in 1960 he said : ” It was a struggle to survive. I used up all my capital; my friends in Japan helped me to establish this pottery in my own land by sending the whole proceeds of the exhibitions of my pots…

But good students began to come to St. Ives.”

Let us look at pots made by some of these people and a few of his own.

We will now go into the work areas. The pottery was inspired by Eastern methods and aesthetics. They built both a raku and a three chamber climbing kiln – considered the first in the West. Let us look at a few rooms. First, the kilns, then the most important room where Bernard Leach discussed with his students what they had made. This was around a fireplace with him sitting on a board across a cast iron cauldron. You may notice jug handles in the wall. He believed handles should not stick out too much as they would break off more easily. The cupboard still holds some of his reference books he used. The museum is an interactive space where one can draw and work with clay. I made a hollow tree trunk ready for some picked leaves.

Potters still come to work here. We spoke to a German potter carrying mixing bowls ready for the next stage. We didn’t enter their special area.

It was a special place of interest,  for me, as I had found a small vase from this pottery in a charity shop many years ago.

A lovely visit.

Let us walk down through the town now in the light. I want to particularly feature a seagull. I will do this through photography.

A day to remember.

Take care.

Sandy 🙂

Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire.

Susan Sontag

Chess is a miniature version of life. To be successful you need:

to be disciplined

assess resources

consider responsible choices

adjust when circumstances change.

Susan Polgar

Dear, dear, the minature world of the family! All the emotions of mankind seem to find a place in it.

Ivy Compton – Burnett