The origins of Dartington Pottery lie in the early 1930's when Bernard Leach and, later, his son David set up the first Pottery, at Shinners Bridge. These inspirational beginnings were expanded upon when Sam Haile and his wife Marianne de Trey arrived in 1947 with Sam building two new kilns. Marianne created a Pottery producing desirable ware and also established an apprenticeship scheme which both echoed the earlier Leach initiative and anticipated Dartington's world-renowned training ethos of today.
In 1983 the Dartington Pottery Training Workshop took over the premises and sold the enterprise to a triumvirate of potters and attracted talented designers which included Petra Tilly and Avis Murray. Dartington remains one of the world's leading potteries specialising in the technically challenging but aesthetically rewarding art of reduction fired stoneware utilising outstanding reactive glaze effects.
In 2005 Dartington Pottery started a new chapter in its history. After 25 years at Dartington, Stephen Course moved the production to Grayshott Pottery in Surrey. Run as an employees benefit trust, Grayshott shares a similar ethos as Dartington and agreed to continue both to support the production and development of the Dartington Designs, and to re-establish the skills associated with the pottery.
Today, Dartington Pottery is still eagerly sought both in its standard designs, in limited editions and individual artists' one-off pieces.
SOLD