Past Events

‘Beyond East and West’: the Founding of British Studio ceramics

Lecture Series

  • 26 November 2020
  • This is the fourth lecture in five-part series titled, Ceramics in Britain, 1750 to Now.

    This lecture is now online.
  • Online

Bernard Leach wrote at the end of his life in his ‘memoirs, portraits and essays’ that ‘all my life I have been a courier between East and West’. In the centenary year of the foundation of the Leach Pottery by Leach and Shoji Hamada, Professor Simon Olding, Director of the Crafts Study Centre at the University of Creative Arts, Farnham, reviews some of the key achievements, tribulations, and forceful characters of the pioneer potters who established a powerful movement for ceramics in the early twentieth century.

While the story of ceramics is a global one, Britain has played a leading role in the last three centuries, a period in which British invention has shaped developments and brought constant renewal to the industry. Ceramics in Britain, 1750 to Now, delivered by experts in the field, will explore five key influential developments in the history of British ceramics since the mid-eighteenth century, examining the multiple ways in which innovators, entrepreneurs, and artists have reinvigorated the field.

You can find this lecture on our Events Recording page.