John Ward, Tulip Pot, circa 1990, stoneware with matt black and white glazes

John Ward was born in 1938 in Islington, London, studied at East Ham Technical College and University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts. He had two workshops in South East London during the 1970s, at Anerley and Charlton, before moving to Dyfed in Wales in 1979. Ward uses coiling techniques to produce hollow vessels with simple but subtle shapes and surface textures. He mixes his own body clay and finishes his pots by scraping and burnishing them. He sometimes uses underglaze painted decoration. Ward's work has been exhibited widely, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and is of much interest to serious collectors.