The term "ethical pot" was coined by Oliver Watson in his book ''Studio Pottery: Twentieth Century British Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' to describe a 20th-century trend in

studio pottery Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.Emmanuel Cooper, ...

that favoured plain, utilitarian ceramics. Watson said that the ethical pot,"lovingly made in the correct way and with the correct attitude, would contain a spiritual and moral dimension." Its leading proponents were

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

and a more controversial group of post-war British studio potters.Collecting Ceramics
/ref> They were theoretically opposed to the ''expressive pots'' or '' fine art pots'' of potters such as

William Staite Murray William Staite Murray (1881–1962) was an English studio potter. Biography He was born in Deptford, London and attended pottery classes at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts from 1909 - 1912. He worked with Cuthbert Hamilton, a member of t ...

Lucie Rie Dame Lucie Rie, (16 March 1902 – 1 April 1995) () was an Austrian-born British studio potter. Life Early years and education Lucie Gomperz was born in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary, the youngest child of Benjamin Gomperz, a Jewis ...

and

Hans Coper Hans Coper (8 April 1920 – 16 June 1981), was an influential German-born British studio potter. His work is often coupled with that of Lucie Rie due to their close association, even though their best known work differs dramatically, with ...

. The ''ethical pot'' theory and style was popularized by

in ''A Potter's Book'' (1940). He expanded the theories that ethical pots should be

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charact ...

, "naturally shaped" and originally as conceived should derive from "Oriental forms that transcended mere good looks." Leach had previously spent considerable time in Japan studying eastern crafts and

mingei The concept of , variously translated into English as " folk craft", " folk art" or "popular art", was developed from the mid-1920s in Japan by a philosopher and aesthete, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), together with a group of craftsmen, includi ...

. His ethical pot idea was a rough interpretation of

for the western world; he advocated simplicity (ideally the best pots are so quick to make that they could be "thrown before breakfast"), and pots made to look natural and hand crafted. Soetsu Yanagi, a leading figure in the mingei movement, said that a craft object "must be made by an anonymous craftsman or woman and therefore unsigned; it must be functional, simple, and have no excess ornamentation; it must be one of many similar pieces and must be inexpensive; it must be unsophisticated; it must reflect the region it was made in; and it must be made by hand."Transcript of Yanagi's talk at the first International Conference of Potters and Weavers, Darlington Hall, Devon, England, 1952 According to ceramic art critics of today, this pot style was intended to be modernist, useful, and "democratic in usage" as opposed to the '' fine art pot'' and also opposed to industrial art.

Potters in the movement

The potters apprenticed to

include:

Michael Cardew Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Early life Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra Kitchin, the elde ...

Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie Katherine (sometimes known as Katharine) Harriot Duncombe Pleydell-Bouverie (7 June 1895 – 1985) was a pioneer in modern English studio pottery, known for her wood-ash glazes. Biography Pleydell-Bouverie was born into an aristocratic family a ...

Norah Braden Norah Braden (1901 – 2001) was a British artisan potter. Life Braden was born in 1901 in Margate. Her parents were Jessie Norwood (born Arnold) and John Templeton Braden who dealt in stationary. She showed early musical and artistic talent and ...

, David Leach and Michael Leach (his sons), William Marshall, Kenneth Quick and

Richard Batterham Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

. His American apprentices included:

Warren MacKenzie Warren MacKenzie (February 16, 1924 – December 31, 2018) was an American craft potter. He grew up in Wilmette, Illinois the second oldest of five children including his brothers, Fred and Gordon and sisters, Marge (Peppy) and Marilyn. His h ...

Byron Temple Byron Temple (1933–2002) was an American potter. Temple learned to throw on the wheel at Ball State University as an undergrad in his native Indiana. After college and serving in the U.S. Army, Temple discovered ''A Potter's Book'', written b ...

, Clary Illian and Jeff Oestrich. He was a major influence on the leading

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

potter

Len Castle Leonard Ramsay Castle (23 December 1924 – 29 September 2011) was a New Zealand potter. Early life and family Born in Auckland on 23 December 1924, Castle was educated at Mount Albert Grammar School. He went on to study at Auckland Unive ...

, and they had worked together in the mid-1950s. Through his son David, Bernard was the main influence on the work of the Australian potter

Ian Sprague Ian Broun Sprague (1920–1994) was an Australian twentieth-century studio potter, ceramic sculptor and graphic artist. Delayed by the Second World War and a false start in architecture, he spent (broadly) his forties adapting Australian domesti ...

Sources

* Britt, John.
Critical Ceramics: The "Unknown Craftsmen" is Dead.
' File retrieved February 10, 2007. *de Waal, Edmund.

' File retrieved February 10, 2007. * Leach, Bernard. ''A Potter’s Book'', Faber and Faber, 1988. {{ISBN, 0-571-04927-3 * Watson, Oliver. ''Studio Pottery: Twentieth Century British Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum.'' Studio pottery English pottery

Potters in the movement

See also

Sources