David Leach, Lowerdown Pottery

Dear Forum,

Unusual and beautifully formed eggcup with mark to base that I would appreciate help in IDing if possible.

Thanks in advance.

Many thanks Naomi.

Kindest.

Made in the late 50's or early60's, He stopped using earthenware in the early 60's.

Thanks Philpot for your kind reply as always. Really appreciated.

Would this then be a pre-Loughborough piece or is that a step too far?

Kindest.

He started Lowerdown near Bovey Tracey in 1956. He was never at Loughborough! This is the sort of work which he produced in the early years at Lowerdown Pottery.

Thanks Philpot. Appreciate your help and expertise as always.

Kindest

Good morning Naomi,
I don’t know whether this handwritten mark for David Leach is suitable for your collection?
It can only be his work!

philpot wrote:He started Lowerdown  near Bovey Tracey in 1956. He was never at Loughborough! This is the sort of work which he produced in the early years at Lowerdown Pottery.

David Leach took over the Pottery department at Loughborough College of Art for one year in 1953 and continued to be a visiting lecturer there for the best part of a decade after that. I did have a pot of David's made there that had his personal seal and a LC seal for Loughborough College, which you can find on the first page of this thread.

A large David Leach jar at the Barbara Hepworth gallery in Wakefield

The caption to  the above piece. 1951 is an interesting date, as one rarely sees David Leach's pieces from that era. The jug itself is very Leach style!

Similar to ones that BL and DL created for the Dartington International Conference in 1952.
Allegedly David threw them and Bernard decorated them.

Just a quick query. If something just has the Lowerdown mark on it, is there any way of knowing if it was done by David Leach or not? I was told by a friend of his he didn’t always sign his own things, and this has an exact design on it as something I own that I know to be his.?

Foxglove pattern was produced in quite large numbers at Lowerdown. I’ve seen a fair few locally in Devon. I understand he did have other potters working with him but I don’t know if he did the designs himself or not.

The simple answer is No. Unfortunately just the L+ makes  good deal of difference in its value.

I bought a piece once with only the L+ mark and was told by the person that I bought it from (David Leach) that he had made it and decorated it, so I knew. He went on to add that, if he had added his personal seal then he could have charged me more. Therefore I knew it to be his but it meant absolutely nothing from that point on.

The foxglove pattern must have been the most common pattern at Lowerdown and it could have been done by any of probably a dozen people. I remember Simon Leach, the youngest son, telling me that when visiting from Spain, he spent most of his spare time painting foxgloves on various pieces of standard ware.

Thanks everyone, I find all this really interesting at least! I think David is actually my favourite Leach personally. I don’t really understand what his personal pieces are worth (ones with his mark) as they seem to be offered at anything from £40 for a pot to £700!!!

Cat wrote:Thanks everyone, I find all this really interesting at least! I think David is actually my favourite Leach personally. I don’t really understand what his personal pieces are worth (ones with his mark) as they seem to be offered at anything from £40 for a pot to £700!!!

With all potters and ceramic artists prices that things are offered for can vary widely. This can be due to the size of the piece; its quality when compared to a piece by the same artist of the same size but, perhaps often, what some chancer is prepared to ask for it!

David was active for many years and made many pieces with his individual mark. My advice to you and anyone else is that if you see something you fancy it is always worth shopping around to see if you can buy a similar piece of similar or better quality elsewhere. There have been recent discussion about this on this Forum and I believe that the general consensus is that currently if you see something offered on eBay for £X you are more than likely going to find it for sale elsewhere for less and in some cases considerably less.

Whilst I am not an expert, the mark seems clearly to be David but I have not seen a small vase (6.5cm high) with these cut hesagonal sides by him before. Is it?

Great thanks - picked it up for £1 in a charity shop today!

Lucky you, It is a piece from his earthenware range that he started making at Lowerdown after he left The Leach pottery in the mid 1950's. He mostly stopped this in the early 60's. It is Not as popular as his stoneware work unfortunately.