Teapot

For over fifty years Richard Batterham has steadfastly made exceptional ash and salt glazed wheel-thrown domestic forms (see also 50721 and 50722). He is renowned for his strong and simple shapes which evoke warmth and tactility. Here the generous and wide handle invites handling and holding. Raw fired clay around the rim of the disc-shaped lid contrasts the green glazed body and demarcates the opening. Decoration is minimal, yet the restrained incised vertical lines emphasise the globular body.

Batterham apprenticed at the Leach pottery in St Ives from 1957 to 1958. His work reflects the influence of Bernard Leach’s ideas, demonstrating a strong affinity with Korean ceramics and English medieval pottery. Tableware and functional ware are terms that might be used to describe Batterham’s ceramics, however, he refers to the objects he makes simply as pots – rejecting commercial categorisation and trends. [1] He embodies the artist-potter, producing his work without assistance, preparing his own clay and making meaningful objects for daily use that ‘enrich life rather than adorn it’. [2]

Sim Panaser, July 2020

[1] Andy Christian, ‘Just Pots’, Ceramic Review, 239 (September/October 2009), p. 41.

[2] Tony Birks, ‘Richard Batterham’, Ceramics: Art and Perception, 93 (2013), p. 25.