Pottery Partnerships

27th November 2025

British Studio Pottery emerged strongly in the years following the First World War, when leading artist-potters began establishing independent studios. Building on the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement, these makers championed a return to hand craftsmanship and individual expression. Their work was characterised by bold experimentation, a respect for materials and a deep commitment to the mastery of their craft.

The Leach pottery in St Ives was founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shōji Hamada, the latter from Japan. Bernard Leach (1887–1979) had spent his early childhood in East Asia before coming to England to be educated. He returned to Japan in 1909 where, on attending a raku party (raku is a traditional Japanese type of rapidly-fired pottery), found himself captivated by the firing process, declaring later; “I was on the spot seized with the desire to take up the craft”.

Leach returned to England with gifted young potter, Shōji Hamada (1894–1978) and together they built the first Asian-style climbing kiln in Europe (a multi-chambered kiln, built on a slope) and began making slipware, stoneware and raku. A year after Hamada’s return to Japan in 1923, Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895-1985) was taken on at the Leach Pottery as a paying apprentice. After one year she returned to her family estate, Coleshill. There she established her own pottery, building a wood-fired kiln in the grounds, experimenting extensively with wood ash glazes derived from a wide variety of trees and vegetation.

“I am a potter, but [Coper] was an artist” Lucie Rie (1902-1995)

Lucie Rie and Hans Coper (1920-1981) are regarded as the preeminent British potters of the latter half of the twentieth century but neither was born in Britain. They were both refugees from Nazism who became close friends and artistic collaborators.

On arrival from Austria in 1938, Lucie Rie set up a studio in London, initially producing glazed buttons for the fashion industry. Her studio became a hub for émigré and refugee people of all kinds. In 1946, German artist Hans Coper joined Lucie Rie’s studio as an untrained assistant, full of enthusiasm, creativity and eager to learn how to use clay. Coper learned quickly from Rie, going on to establish his own studio but the pair’s friendship endured for the rest of their lives.

Coper was a frequent visitor to the British Museum and his works were informed by ancient artifacts including early Cycladic forms. Coper used a limited range of glazes, preferring to rely on white, buff, brown, and black. He burnished the surface of some of his pots, experimented with textures and developed sculptural vessel forms, often by fusing thrown sections together.

Aged 28, John Ward (1938-2023) attended Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts where Hans Coper and Lucie Rie were visiting tutors. Also influenced by ancient forms he saw in the British Museum, as well as by the work of Rie and Coper, Ward’s stoneware vessels were hand-built with a technique he developed of building up flattened strips of clay which were often finished with abstract and geometric decoration. Ward established his own workshop in London in 1971 before moving his pottery to North Pembrokeshire in Wales;

“My aim is to make pots which have simple forms with integral decoration and aspects which can interact with the environment in interesting ways.” John Ward.

While these individuals each established their own workshops and unique processes, their spirit of experimentation and sharing of knowledge was critical to their success.

The upcoming British Art Pottery sale on 10^th December includes works by Bernard Leach (lots 101, 102, 122, 123), Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (Lots 130, 131, 109, 110, 111, 112, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 128), Lucie Rie (210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217) Hans Coper (218), John Ward (lot 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225) and many other key artists of the Studio Pottery movement.

*Browse the full catalogue on our website.