MASTERS OF STUDIO POTTERY, PART I / William Staite Murray & His Pupils

12 January - 8 February 2018

Masters of studio pottery, Part I: William Staite murray & His Pupils' examines Staite Murray's variety of pottery, his influence, and the legacy of his work and of those he taught.

Those taught by Staite Murray at the Royal College of Art all showed aspects of his influence, some more than others . As Staite Murray himself said “I don’t teach. I create an atmosphere”. Notable potter's and pupil's of Staite murray are exhibited together, including Robert Washington, Henry Hammond, Sam Haile, Margaret Ray and Constance Dunn.  His school did not spread far and wide like Bernard Leach’s, but was a very distinctive group nonetheless, and deserving of greater critical attention, which important exhibitions like this will address. Perhaps what is most important is that so many of Staite Murray’s pupils became teachers themselves, so his legacy lives on in the work of many diverse potters practising now. David Whiting 2017