Bernard Leach Pilgrim and Mountain Dish

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Bernard Leach, Pilgrim and Mountain' dish, stoneware with the pilgrim image and simple mountain form above, pale under-glaze showing against the darker ground glaze, brushed pale overglaze, unglazed rim. Brushed 'BL' monogram to reverse and impressed St Ives mark to reverse. Diameter 38.2 cm. Provenance: The Dr Denis & Joy Hanna collection. Ex. Len Castle collection, sold by Len to Maree of Maree's Bazaar, Upper Queen St. where it was purchased by Denis Hanna for £8, see note attached. Exhibited: Waikato Art Museum Exhibition 'Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, The Two Friends' June 1980, illustrated in the catalogue # 106. Note: Leach is noted as the founding father of the British Studio ceramic movement. He was inspired by both traditional English slipware and the arts of the East. Hong Kong born, he spent a great deal of time in Japan and is noted as a champion for bridging the gap between 'Crafts' and 'Art' in Britain. The 'Pilgrim' image was developed throughout Leach's career, forming a small and important body of work that marks the marriage between Eastern and Western ideas and culture. This important motif also represented a self-portrait of the artist.

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Overglaze on Porcelain - Overglaze decoration on porcelain refers to a decorative technique where designs are painted onto a fired and glazed porcelain surface, and then fired again at a lower temperature to fuse the decorative design onto the glaze surface. This technique allows for a wide range of colors and intricate designs that would not be possible with underglaze decoration, which is applied before the glaze is fired.
Slipware Pottery - When people think of how pottery is made, they usually imagine clay being thrown on a wheel. This is still a common method used by studio potters, together with coiling and carving. However, these techniques are time-consuming and so for factory production, a quicker and cheaper method is essential. Such a method is slip casting.

In slip casting, a clay slurry is poured into a plaster of Paris mould. When the clay has dried, the mould is taken apart and the pot allowed to dry further. It may then be fired, decorated and glazed.

Most factory produced mid 20th century pottery was slipware. Huge quantities were maufactured for the 'popular ornaments' market.

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