A Potter's Book [Paperback]

"Mr. Leach has worked for a quarter of a century first in the Far East and more recently in England, and his output combines the best qualities of both worlds." -- "TLS"
"It is the soundest and most detailed book which has ever been written on this subject, and any potter, connoisseur or student of ceramics who neglects to buy it is making a very stupid omission." -- Maurice Collis in "Time and Tide"

This now famous book was the first treatise to be written by a potter on the workshop traditions handed down by Koreans and Japanese from the greatest period of Chinese ceramics in the Sung dynasty. It deals with four types of pottery: Japanese raku, English slipware, stoneware and oriental porcelain. With its help, potters can learn how to adapt recipes for pigments and glazes, and designs of kilns, to local conditions. It gives a vivid workshop picture of the making of a kiln-load of pots from start to finish, and is eloquent on the position of the individual or artist-potter in an industrial age. It is a book that is primarily intended for practical craftsmen and students, but it also has a strong appeal for all lovers of ceramics and for everyone with an interest in cultural interchange between East and West.

Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century pottery. Born in Hong Kong and brought up in Japan, Hong Kong and England, he trained at the London School of Art and moved to Japan in 1909, where he studied pottery techniques. In 1920 on his return to England he founded the Leach Pottery with Shoji Hamada in St Ives, Cornwall. His best-known work, A Potter's Book, was first published in 1940.