David Leach, Lowerdown Pottery

Lowerdown pottery was David Leach's pottery from 1956 onwards. He had a number of apprentices including John Maltby. The L+ work would mostly have been made by an apprentice. as this one probably was.

David Leach mug

The decoration of that looks very good and could well have been done by David himself. However, I remember a conversation with his youngest son, Simon, about whenever he came to visit he always got roped into decorating the "less expensive" Lowerdown mark pieces and got quite good at it.

Hello Forum, this is my first post.

I wonder if anyone can help. I've just acquired a beautiful celadon glazed, bamboo handled teapot with the Lowerdown mark stamped into the clay and a D inside an L painted on the bottom.

Was it unusual for David Leach to mark his pots so?

Hopefully my image is below...



Regards,

Jay in Cornwall.

I forgot to mention, it does have David's popular foxglove motif on either side.

Jay in Cornwall.

He did use a written mark sometimes in place of his stamped mark. I'm guessing he mislaid his stamp that day.

Another option is that he had planned to sell it cheaper, as just a Lowerdown pot, but was so happy with the decoration that he signed it, so that he could charge more money.

Having met and spoken with David on many occasions, I would think that my suggestion is more likely. He liked making money, but he was always good humoured with it.

Thanks Naomi & Studio Pots for your prompt replies. Do I take it that you have seen yourselves his pots with a painted D inside an L?

Regards,

Jay.

There are a couple of examples on this thread.

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t12066p25-david-leach#163503

Thanks again Naomi, most helpful.

When I bought the teapot last week, the seller said it "might be by David Leach", now I'm pretty certain it is.

Regards,

Jay.

I have a little simple bowl here with the Lowerdown Pottery David Leach mark. It also has another mark but I don’t know what this signifies? I also don’t know whether that Lowerdown mark means it’s made directly by David Leach or not? I can’t seem to find out online, lots of sites just say they’re made by him... any ideas? thanks
Cat

It ws not made by David Leach himself. The L+ sign is the one used by apprentices who worked with him. He had quite a few over the years including John Maltby and Tim Andrews. What you have here is a fairly straight forward soup/fruit bowl that would have been part of the standard ware range that the apprentices would have  made lots of to hone their skills.
David Leach was a famous potter , who invariably used his PERSONAL D/L mark combined with the L+. He was well aware of the extra value that his personal mark and reputation gave his pots.

Hi,
OK many thanks that clears things up a bit! Still not sure if the other mark signifies who made it? Many sites are very misleading simply showing that mark as a 'David Leach' signature. Your answer does make sense! Thanks

The other mark looks like a 7. It's standard ware so probably only has significance to the pottery

Thanks! You've both been a great help! Such a great forum.

The 7 is a code for the glaze mix inside the bowl. Therefore it is a trail piece but of course still OK to be sold as part of the inexpensive functional ware range with the Lowerdown Cross (L+) mark. It is a glaze that doesn't look familiar and I have seen many hundreds of such bowls over the years and still use some.

David always liked to have pottery on sale at Lowerdown to "suit every pocket" and did in fact make thousands of pieces with just the L+ seal, when he was working alone, to satisfy this demand. However, as he said once when I was there buying stock for my gallery and included a couple of L+ items, "I should have put my personal seal on those two and then I could have charged you more."

Therefore if anyone suggests that you should pay more for a piece with a L+ seal because they say that David made it, your answer should be that David Leach didn't charge more when he told potential buyers that he had made an L+ piece, so they certainly had no right to demand more.

That’s very interesting- and especially from someone who met him! I found this in a mixed lot from someone who just saw it as general pottery and wasn’t even looking for any kind of makers mark, so I got it cheap anyway! It was actually almost lost to the sea and spent four nights floating around in Poole harbour in a very well packaged parcel before being fished out by someone who then contacted me... so it has an extra story too it!!!

The back story sounds interesting but this thread isn't the place but you could start a new thread in the Lava Lounge!

I knew David for the last 15 years of his life and had quite considerable contact with him, so everything that I write about David comes from David himself or from other potters that knew him well.

Hi,
It appears to me like David Leach ? Is it?
Thanks

It’s Lowerdown Pottery’s standard ware

The L+ items were generally Standard Ware made by apprentices that David Leach had working with him. Potters like John Maltby and Tim Andrews. David Leach might possibly have made some standard ware items to keep the stock fresh. But it is generally accepted that the L+ items are not made by him. The only pieces made by David Leach are the ones with his personal mark and the L+.
This is a fairly simple jug.

Although part of the standard ware range at Lowerdown, it does look like a very fine example from your photograph. If it was mine, I think it would go in my kitchen cabinet and be used.

Indeed Studio. The one thing you can say about hand made standard ware is that it is durable! We have St Ives bowls, Winchcombe plates and jugs we have in daily use for 20 years or more. This sort of piece was made and designed to be used, not to be stuck in a cabinet for umpteen years!

That reminds me of a story that I heard a long time ago.

Someone took a slipware jug that Michael Cardew had made at Winchcombe to show him at Wenford Bridge. The person that owned the jug said something along the lines of that he thought that this was the most wonderful jug that he had ever seen. Michael's reply was, "Well, it can't be that good as no one has used it!"