John Leach
Background
The eldest grandson of Bernard Leach and son of David Leach, John makes honest, hand-thrown pots in his own 16th century, thatch-roofed pottery at Muchelney in the beautiful English West Country.
His range of stoneware kitchen pots using local clays has been in constant production for over 40 years but his greatest joy is in creating one-off designs. Some are fired in sawdust-filled saggars, producing exciting black pots with unpredictable white markings. Others explore his fascination with antique leather bottles, African and early English and American country pottery.
Born 1939
Exhibitions:
2007 Zimmer Stewart, Arundel
2006 Stour Gallery, Shipston Tack Room, Great Atlantic Gallery, Monmouth
2004 Church House Designs, Congresbury
2002 Torquil Gallery, Henley in Arden
2000 Leach Pottery, St Ives
1999 Tate Gallery, St.Ives
1997 Prime Gallery, Toronto. Potters' Guild Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
1995 Hesketh Gallery, Lewes
1994-2000 Muchelney Abbey
1994 Gallery Nykvarn, Enkoping, Sweden. Bettles Gallery, Ringwood
1992 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
1991 Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield
Collections:
Bristol Museum & art Gallery
Fitzwilliam Museum
Shipley Arts Gallery, Gateshead
Liverpool National Museums & Arts Gallery
Crafts Council, London
Victoria & Albert Museum
Clevelands Crafts Centre, Middelsbrough
Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk
Sheffield City Museum
Stoke-on-Trent City Museum & Art Gallery, Hanley
Somerset County Museum, Taunton
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
York City Museum
National Museum of Wales
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Glasgow Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow
Paisley Museum & Art Gallery, Paisley
Aberystwyth Arts Centre,
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Whitehorse Museum, Yukon, Canada
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Canada
Fairbanks Museum, Alaska
Sir David Attenborough
Lord Peyton of Yeovil
William Ismay
Publications:
Studio Pottery by Oliver Watson & Victoria & Albert Museum, Phaidon Press Limited 1993
Pots in the Kitchen by Josie Walter, Crowood Press 2002
British Studio Ceramics by Paul Rice, Crowood Press 2002
David Leach by Emmanuel Cooper & Kathy Niblett, Richard Dennis 2003
Firing by David Jones, Crowood Press, 2007
Studio Pottery in Britain 1900-2005 by Jeffrey Jones, A&C Black 2007
Contemporary Ceramics by Emmanuel Cooper, Thames & Hudson 2009
