The Leach Pottery. St Ives

sorry about the picture overload.. is this a Leach jar?? picked up for a quid today :-)

I agree that too many potters produce similar stuff , the jugs associated with Bernard Leach would imo have his decoration , the form isn't just Leach as it was being created thousand of years before him , Credit to Bernard leach for many things but inventing the jug isn't one I would give him , it's not the leach pottery that's churning out these pieces it's countless other potters who are probably more interested in the glazes than the form which is their perogative I suppose , nout wrong with that ,most people couldn't tell a leach pot from any old pot at ten paces , it's only when they pick them up and see the name their opinions change .

Not a jug though - a coffee pot with the lid missing. Hence no glaze around the top.

Yes, Leach. A vintage piece as it also has England stamped on the foot rim .

NaomiM wrote:There are lots of big named potteries that have changed hands and changed styles over the years but kept the name. Nothing wrong in that. My only bugbear is if they keep churning out copies of Leach's old pots, as that would be akin to counterfeiting.

If you are talking about potteries that used to make their pots in Stoke and the five towns and now make them in the Far East then I agree that they have kept the name but I don't agree that there is nothing wrong with that. I can't think of any studio potteries where this has occurred though.

My problem isn't a change or development of style it's that there is no continuity. I am quite happy for any potter to be making pots on the site of the old Leach Pottery, even if they are raku or lustre decorated, but can't agree that they should be allowed to mark them with the Leach Pottery seal. Why would anyone want to unless it was for commercial reasons? I think it stiffles creativity.

It was part of the Standard ware range when Bernard was alive and likely from the 1960s/1970s.

Got one myself that we use for flowers but never come across a lid without the pot yet.

We should probably have this in the Pottery discussion Thread , I am personally happy with potters using the mark of the pottery they are potting in , I can't think why not , yes it may very well be for commercial reasons , most things are , the leach family and asscociates have dined on it for years and continue to do so , they are probably happy that the pottery is still going , if you change the mark then the pottery is dead and gone imo.

When Janet Leach died the pottery was left to her friend and business partner, Mary Redgrave known as "Boots", but the pottery cottage belonged to David Leach, who had owned it from long before Bernard died. At that time he had no interest in keeping the operation going ,as he put the cottage on the market.

studio-pots wrote:

NaomiM wrote:There are lots of big named potteries that have changed hands and changed styles over the years but kept the name. Nothing wrong in that. My only bugbear is if they keep churning out copies of Leach's old pots, as that would be akin to counterfeiting.

If you are talking about potteries that used to make their pots in Stoke and the five towns and now make them in the Far East then I agree that they have kept the name but I don't agree that there is nothing wrong with that. I can't think of any studio potteries where this has occurred though.

My problem isn't a change or development of style it's that there is no continuity. I am quite happy for any potter to be making pots on the site of the old Leach Pottery, even if they are raku or lustre decorated, but can't agree that they should be allowed to mark them with the Leach Pottery seal. Why would anyone want to unless it was for commercial reasons? I think it stiffles creativity.

No I wasn't thinking of Staffordshire potteries. If you look through the list of potteries on the Studio Pottery website there are several that gave been in operation for several generations or have been passed from potter to potter. What the Leach pottery is doing is nothing new. But if they are churning out the same stuff then it's like the new Troika and new Carltonware, reusing the same moulds and, in Carltonware's case, putting the old stamp on it. I agree that stifles creativity. They should move with the times; take a tip from the likes of Richard Godfrey and John Pollex and jazz up their stuff.

NaomiM wrote:Yes, Leach. A vintage piece as it also has England stamped on the foot rim .

does having England impressed into an item help to be more specific when dating standard Leach ware?

Isn't one of the main problems with the Leach Pottery now,is that its part of the whole Tourist/Heritage industry now? Visit St Ives itself,and its The Tate,Barbara Hepworth, and the Leach Pottery.
Is it even possible for the Pottery to launch off in an entirely new creative direction? Who would actually buy bright Red or Green pots(a la Godfrey & Pollex) with a St Ives mark. Are they now prisoners of their own history?

studio-pots wrote:Not a jug though - a coffee pot with the lid missing. Hence no glaze around the top.

Looks like it's one of these -

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t9954-leach-pottery-st-ives#80667

Speaking of carrying the Leach flame, this little yunomi/beaker was definitely right in the firing line when ...er, fired.One side is toasted, one side reduced. I wonder what the reaction was when it came out of the kiln.

This is the mark. I think it is quite early judging by the mark, clay and general amateurishness of the decoration, throwing and finishing.

I think that it is the shape of beaker that Bernard developed at Dartington in 1932-33 when he was working on a functional ware range for St. Ives, so likely to have been made around 1935 to 1939.

Hello :) been looking and looking , does anyone know when the leach pottery started to mark their pots with the England stamp? Trying to dates pot With a possible bl stamp. Annoying as was there last week and could have asked!
Thank you!

I can't give you a definitive answer but I don't recall seeing any Leach pots from pre-1945 with an England stamp on them.

From 1945 and through the late 1940s the Leach Standard Ware range production grew but most was snapped up by Heal's, Liberty and John Lewis. Therefore there would have been little if any available for export for which it would be necessary to stamp the pots with "England".

So I think it is likely to be from the early 1950s that the stamp was introduced and I would imagine it would have continued to be used until Standard Ware production stopped upon Bernard's death.

What do you have that you want to date?

I was just wondering, as have not noticed a pot with both the BL stamp and the England stamp on the same pot before, so it led me to wonder if there was an overlap between using the England stamp and BL still potting. I am feeling more confident now that this can be attributed to BL.
I an very happy with my brown jam pot! :) x x

mowen wrote: I am feeling more confident now that this can be attributed to BL.
I an very happy with my brown jam pot! :) x x

I am not sure that me telling you that ENGLAND was stamped on Leach Pottery wares when Bernard Leach was alive means that you can attribute anything to Bernard Leach.

Things that are important with something the age of your jam pot before making such an attribution are that it was made at the Leach Pottery, it has the Leach Pottery seal and that it has Bernard Leach's personal seal or signature done with a brush.

Bernard Leach died in 1979 so I wouldn't have thought that the BL and England stamps necessarily mean the item is 'early' St Ives Pottery, just that it was made during his lifetime.

NaomiM wrote:Bernard Leach died in 1979 so I wouldn't have thought that the BL and England stamps necessarily mean the item is 'early' St Ives Pottery, just that it was made during his lifetime.

As the Leach Pottery started life in 1920 it would be incorrect to describe an item of Leach Pottery with an ENGLAND stamp on it as being "early". The term "vintage", which only really says that an item is not new, would be fine and in the case of the Leach Pottery is perhaps more relevant than with other potteries due to the current pottery on the site using the Leach Pottery name.

I am assuming that these are St Ives and hoping someone could give me a clue as to potter and date. Bowls 5 inches including handles  and saucers 6 inches diameter. Thanks John

Now see that these are standard ware ramekins, would these be 1970s?