1939 - 2021

John was born at the Leach Pottery; son of David Leach and eldest grandson of Bernard Leach. Aged 18, John began his five-year apprenticeship, learning from potters including Colin Pearson, Aylesford Pottery; Ray Finch, Winchcombe Pottery; his father David, Lowerdown Cross Pottery and grandfather Bernard, Leach Pottery.

John travelled to the States to teach and set up a pottery with Harold Guilland in Mendocino, California in 1963. On his return to England, he set up his own pottery and family home in Muchelney, Somerset, in 1965. The kitchenware range still produced at Muchelney was designed by John; his shapes celebrate form and function as made by a craftsman’s hand to be part of one’s everyday rhythms.

John's personal shapes were inspired by other cultures and times; he loved medieval forms and pots of the Appalachian Way. He spent time in Alaska, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Jamaica and Africa. His time in Nigeria was especially resonant and had a later influence on some of his ‘Black Mood’ pots; these were fired in a saggar filled with sawdust to create dark clay bodies with serendipitous organic lines. No two pieces are the same and they are prized items in collections around the world.