Bernard Leach was a pre-eminent artist-potter of the twentieth century. In the early part of his career he spent twelve formative years in Japan, during a period of febrile excitement in the arts. In 1920 he returned to England to set up a studio in St Ives. Leach s influence on the growth of the studio pottery movement, both in Japan and in the West, has been profound. His making of ceramics and his teaching of some of the foremost aritst-potters of the period gives him a central place in the international history of the decorative arts.