Bridging Continents in Clay: The Legacy of Bernard Leach - 1920s England (Leach–Hamada connection)

Bernard Leach was more than a potter. He was a bridge.

Born in Hong Kong in 1887, raised between East and West, Leach would go on to become one of the most influential figures in modern ceramics. His life’s work brought together two worlds — the philosophy and craft of Japanese pottery and the aesthetics and tradition of British studio work.

In the 1920s, Leach studied in Japan under master potter Shōji Hamada in the small village of Mashiko. There, he absorbed the principles of mingei — the Japanese folk craft movement — which revered utility, humility, and the handmade. These values would deeply inform his approach to form and firing.

When he returned to England, he co-founded the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall, which would become the epicentre of the British studio pottery movement. His book A Potter’s Book (1940) spread his philosophy widely: pottery should be beautiful, useful, and sincere.

Leach’s legacy isn't in flashy forms or radical reinvention. It’s in the quiet integration of cultural craft knowledge. He taught generations of potters to look backward and outward — to combine historical respect with personal expression.

At Mayfield Studios, we hold Leach’s ideas close. We teach that pots carry place and philosophy. That wheel-thrown work can hold stillness. That clay connects us across borders and centuries.

Explore our throwing courses to see how Leach’s legacy still centres our making.

Next in Clay Lore: The Bauhaus Potters form follows clay. (1920s Gernany)