Harry Memmott, Australia

Harry Memmott (1921-1991) was born in Brisbane and spent his childhood at Annerley not far from his grandfather J.T. Sandison's pottery works. He trained as a painter, studying art at the Brisbane Technical College, and completing a rehabilitation art course at the East Sydney Technical College after the war. He returned home in 1950 and set up a business making left-wing silk screen prints and picture frames. At that time, the Sandison pottery was being run by Memmott's uncle, George Sandison, and Memmott learnt to make pots under the guidance of George's partner, Merv Feeney. In the mid-1950s, he took over a section of the works and started making a range of souvenir wares. In the late 1950s, he began to make and teach studio pottery. In the late 1960s, he visited Japan, and soon afterwards, moved to the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, to take up a position at the Prahran Technical College, leaving his wife Cootch Memmott to take over the studio pottery business. In 1970 he published his influential The Australian Pottery Book. He returned to Annerley in 1977, where he continued to work as a potter until 1985. His works are signed 'Harry Memmott'