The Potter's Art

The first ever book to provide a comprehensive history of British pottery, The Potter's Art traces its remarkable development all the way from the rudimentary pots of the Middle Ages to the sophisticated art of today's studio potters. Beginning with the peasant potter, Garth Clark moves on to describe the development of style and fashion under the renowned industrialist Josiah Wedgwood. He also examines the work of the artist-potters William De Morgan and the Martin brothers, and the studio potters Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie. Focusing particularly on the distinctly human angle to the craft, the author brings the potters' personalities to life by describing their working conditions, lifestyles and characters. For all collectors and potters, this indispensable survey, with a bibliography, chronology and glossary, sheds new light on the history of British pottery. For anyone with a sense of aestheticism or a general interest in the arts, this is an absorbing introduction to perhaps the most fundamental artistic medium in the history of civilization.