Bernard Leach is considered today as the grandfather of modern British studio ceramics. He was born in British Hong Kong in 1887 and spent his early childhood in Japan. He later studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where his interest in Japanese culture deepened, prompting him to return to Japan in 1909 with his wife Muriel.
In Japan, Leach became involved with the Shirakaba Group, artists committed to introducing Western art to Japan. He first began to study ceramics in 1911 under Urano Shigekichi, a master working in the ‘Kenzan’ tradition, named after the famed Japanese potter Ogata Kenzan.
In 1919, Leach met Shoji Hamada, a young ceramicist who had attended one of his exhibitions. The two formed a close friendship, united by shared aesthetic and philosophical ideals. A year later, Leach was invited to return to England as the potter for a newly established Guild of Handicrafts in St Ives. He accepted, and in 1920, Leach and his family moved to Cornwall, joined by Hamada.
Together, they founded the Leach Pottery in St Ives in 1920, becoming part of the town’s growing artistic community. Leach’s work fused traditional British pre-industrial techniques with Japanese influences, emphasizing simplicity, utility, and craftsmanship. As part of this, Leach and Hamada constructed the first Japanese climbing kiln in the west.
Leach’s utilitarian, or ‘ethical’ pots stand in opposition to what he called fine art pots, which promoted aesthetic concerns rather than function. Popularised in the 1940s after the publication of his celebrated text A Potter's Book, Leach’s style had lasting influence on counter-culture and modern design in North America during the 1950s and 1960s.
The Leach Pottery quickly became a hub for innovation, attracting aspiring potters from around the world including William Marshall, and Katherine Pleydell-Bouviere. Bernard Leach left a lasting legacy through his teachings and his distinctive blend of Eastern and Western forms and philosophies, shaping the course of modern ceramics in Britain and beyond.
