POTTERY - Key Persons
Andrew Walford is one of the few potters who digs his own stoneware clay and meticulously prepares it to his own high standard. Working in the Japanese tradition with thick chun glazes sifted by hand from wood ash, colours of rich resonant tenmokus, fatty whites and shades of celadon, he then decorates the pots with specially imported Japanese brushes.The kiln which he designed and built himself is fired about eight times a year with paraffin oil to a temperature of 1380 degrees Celsius.
Bernard Howell Leach, CH, CBE, was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Born: January 5, 1887, Hong Kong Died: May 6, 1979, St Ives, United Kingdom.
- 1958 - Married to Anthony Potter, Johannesburg Advocate and together they had three sons - James, Andrew & Thomas. The oldest, James was severely injured in a car accident in 1963. Divorced by 1973.
After WW2, Helen de Leeuw went to England with her daughter Marieke to further her literary studies; however she gave up her PhD course at London University and enrolled at the Camberwell College of Art to become a potter. Returning to South Africa, she opened a pottery studio. Norman Herber from Greatermans Stores in the Johannesburg city centre offered her an empty basement which he would convert into a temporary studio, complete with kiln, provided she would give public pottery demonstrations there. Helen de Leeuw soon expanded and created The Craftman's Market at 52 von Brandis Street, showcasing as "Helen de Leeuw Gallery" the work of many artists such as Edoardo Villa and students from the Polly Street Art Centre (1954) then run by Cecil Skotnes whom she had met through her brother-in-law, Gideon Uys, former Polly Street art instructor. Johannes Meintjes had an exhibition there in May, 1958, showing 34 paintings. At about that time Felicity Potter worked for Helen at the Craftman's Market in Greatermans downtown. From 1960 to 1966 and beyond, Helen de Leeuw operated the Helen de Leeuw Gallery in Pretoria, after 1969 she moved to the new Hyde Park Shopping Centre.
Hyme Rabinowitz, internationally renowned ceramicist and potter, died at his Constantia home on 15 February at the age of 88. Born in Namaqualand in 1920, Hyme and his twin brother Sol grew up in Port Nolloth. He attended SACS School and subsequently became a chartered accountant. But his preference was pottery, which he began doing part-time in the early '50s, setting up his full-time workshop a few years later at Eagle's Nest farm in Constantia.
Joe was a ceramic artist who has built studios for handicapped children, travelled to China, invented glaze recipes, engineered tiles for brick companies, and designed murals for churches and big business premises. His work changed from handthrown, salt-glazed forms in the beginning of his career, through large-scale murals and raku sculptures, to his last exhibition of a series of boer war images on flat surfaces - kiln bats. He owes inspiration for the work to his grandfather, Fred Trezona, whose photographs featured largely in the exhibition.
Michael Cardew, OBE, was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Born: 1901, Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Died: February 11, 1983, Truro, United Kingdom.
Michael Casson OBE born in London, was an English studio potter, referred to as "respected and charismatic". Born: April 2, 1925, London, United Kingdom. Died: December 12, 2003, Upton Bishop, United Kingdom.
He was born in England in 1939. He trained in pottery and ceramics at the Croydon College of Art from 1956 to 1961. In 1968 he immigrated to Canada. He spent the first two years teaching at the Toronto Central Technical School. Robin Hopper has both a functional and a decorative side to his production of pottery and ceramic works. His functional works are produced on an artisan basis.
Sammy and Mary Liebermann were early pioneers of the studio pottery environment in South Africa and established Liebermann Pottery in Johannesburg in 1956 following generally in the Bernard Leach / Shoji Hamada tradition with an extensive range of traditional handmade cottage tableware, dinnerware and ceramic picture tiles.
Shōji Hamada was a Japanese potter. He was a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the mingei folk-art movement, establishing the town of Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre. Born: December 9, 1894, Tokyo, Japan. Died: January 5, 1978, Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
William Morris (24 March 1834 - 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist. Associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement, he was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he played a significant role in propagating the early socialist movement in Britain.