The Leach Pottery. St Ives

I have had the small stoneware Leach Pottery vase below for a number of years but have not been able to identify the potter.





As the vase seemed Japanese in style and the personal seal is a stylised A, I did think that it might have been by Atsuya Hamada, Shoji's third son, who was at the Leach Pottery in the 1950s. However, I did show it to Bill Marshall in the past and he didn't recognise the seal so it may well remain a mystery.

The vase is around 10 cm (4 inches) tall so not very large but my investment was only 50p.

Hi, bought this yesterday from a charity shop and wondering if anyone can supply any info regarding the maker. I think the seal/mark is an "S" but could be wrong.

Thanks

Roy

Looks very like a Leach one.

http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/pp.cgi?item=2952

Could the mark be the St Ives mark?
If you google 'Leach coffee pot' you'll see some more.

That's what I was thinking Naomi, I have had a look at a few websites and sent off pictures to a few to get their opinion. Didn't want to give out my opinion in case I was just being a bit hopeful lol.

http://www.ceramike.com/gallery.asp?potter=Leach%20Pottery

http://www.ceramike.com/gallery.asp?Potter=Leach%20Pottery&Pot=StIvesSmallCoffeePot

It looks like a Leach Pottery Standard Ware coffee pot to me.

Thanks Pots, that's what I was thinking myself. Picked it up for £2 in a charity shop that was having a clearance sale, had no idea of the origins when I bought it though.

Great find, and nice to have it complete with lid.   

............ unlike many you see being sold dishonestly as jugs when the lid is missing.

Yeah this shop is in a very affluent part of the city and always has really nice items, seen Moorcroft selling for in excess of £500 there, most of the things are usually way out of my price range lol.

This pot has the Leach mark - difficult to photograph as partly obscured with glaze. No potter's mark - so has anyone any idea who made it ?

      8cm high


thanks

It's not possible to say with any certainty at all. Any name suggested would really be a guess.

St Ives Pottery tankard

6" High , Joanna Wason Vase .

Dish by Janet Leach

What does it say under the marks? Looks like "REPEAT"?

Yes it says REPEAT. Apparently it meant she made a number (100s, probably) of pieces in the same shape.

She did this with 4 different styles of dishes that I am aware of and some small footed teabowls as well. They were really only for sale at the pottery and were items that were more affordable than her more individual pieces.

For most of the time that she made them she had no-one to help her so my view is that she would have made most of them.

It was only towards the end of her life that she employed Joanna Wason to assist her.

However, compared to Shoji Hamada she was most definitely hands on. Hamada employed people throughout his career to throw most of his pots and others to make his press moulded bottles. He only decorated the majority of his pots but did say that he threw all of his chawan as well as decorating them.

NaomiM wrote:Pretty sure there's a blooming great thumb print in the middle.  

Tbh, I don't think she was a very good potter.

In my opinion she was one of the most talented studio potters ever and she has to be admired for never making "Leach pots". She never played safe.

Of course some of her pots were pretty bad but considering the amount of alcohol she consummed it isn't that surprising.

My impression of her was that she was quite pushy and bossy (but compared to BL the Easter Bunny would look pushy) and she tried to make the most of the Leach name. I guess she might have rubbed some up the wrong way sometimes  

big ed wrote:I am liking her more and more ,boozing and potting , can't be bad eh?   

I met someone in the 1990s in the antique business, who knew nothing about studio pottery or that the Leach Pottery was important.

He told me that the only potter he had met was in a "retreat" from which they both went awol over the wall and down to the local pub one night. That was Janet.