West Cornwall’s distinguished cultural history not only played host to two of Britain’s most important art colonies, the Newlyn and St Ives Schools, but also boasts what many consider to be the birthplace of British studio pottery, the Leach Pottery in St Ives. 

 

During the mid 20^th century, a host of pottery studios opened up in Penwith, supplying both decorative and functional ceramics to the tourist market and to local homes. Some were longer-lived than others – and indeed several still survive today – while work by some of the now defunct studios has become highly collectable. 

 

This exhibition seeks to give a flavour of the kind of work being produced and purchased in the Penwith area between 1920 and 1980, and of the wide range of studios and potters working here during that period. In a single show, it is impossible to do justice to the myriad talented potters who have worked in this extraordinary district, but we hope to have given a representative taste of the breadth and strength of west Cornwall’s pottery output.