Kenneth Inman Carr Clark (31 July 1922 – 10 June 2012) was a New Zealand-born British ceramicist, best known for his decorative tiles.

Early life and family

Born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, on 31 July 1922, Clark was the son of Aubrey Sherman Clark, a farms inspector, and his wife, Annie Barbara Louisa Clark (née Inman). Through his mother, Clark was a great-grandson of

William Inman William Inman (6 April 1825 in Leicester – 3 July 1881 in Upton, Merseyside, Upton, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral) was the owner of the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company. Also known as the Inman Line, it ran services from Liverp ...

, founder of passenger shipping company, the Inman Line. On his father's side, he was related to the 18th-century English architect, John Carr. Clark spent most of his childhood in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and was educated at Nelson College from 1937 to 1941, where he won several prizes for drawing. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he initially enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, but subsequently transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. He was present during the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

, and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

Ceramics

After the end of the war, Clark remained in Britain and took up an ex-serviceman's scholarship at London's Slade School of Art, where his teachers included

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE Royal Academy of Arts, RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if ...

. He continued his studies at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...

, being taught by Dora Billington, Clark went on to teach there himself for 25 years, as well as at Goldsmiths' College. In 1953, Clark and Ann Wynn Reeves, whom he married the following year, founded Kenneth Clark Ceramics in the London district of

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia ( ) is a district of central London, England, near the West End. Its eastern part is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urbanised in ...

. The studio relocated to

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

in 1989. The couple used their complementary skills in their practice: Ann designed many of the motifs and decorative emblems that Kenneth applied to his ceramics, and he used his technical knowledge to recreate glazes used by William De Morgan. He reproduced decorative tiles for Debenham House, as well as the dairy at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

following the 1992 fire. As well as tiles, Clark made single hand-thrown domestic ware items, and in the 1960s designed for the

Denby Denby is a village in the England, English county of Derbyshire that is notable as the birthplace of John Flamsteed, England's first Astronomer Royal, and the location of the Denby Pottery Company. Denby is east from Belper and north of Derb ...

and Bristol Potteries, including the "Mooncurve" range for the latter. Clark served as chairman of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. In the 1980s he assisted the Romanian government with the revitalisation of the pottery industry in that country, and later played a similar role in Afghanistan. In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours Clark was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to art and design. The following year he was awarded the Society of Designer Craftsmen's centennial medal.

Writings

Clark wrote four books on pottery, including ''The Potter's Manual'' (1983), regarded as a standard reference work in the field, and ''The Tile: Making, Designing and Using'', published in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Kenneth 1922 births 2012 deaths Artisans from Wellington City People educated at Nelson College New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal Navy personnel of World War II New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Academics of the Central School of Art and Design Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London English ceramicists Members of the Order of the British Empire