Mug and saucer/plate sets by renowned British potter Robin Welch

I was thrilled to acquire these stunning mid-century British mug and saucer/plate sets by celebrated potter Robin Welch (1936-2019). These domestic wares could be bought by the piece and probably date from the late 1960s or early 1970s. They are stunning examples of mid-century design. One has London impressed into the surface and more of a saucer than a plate. The other three sets are of the same style but each is unique as a result of the glaze. One of the cups has some extremely minor fleabites from the glaze at the rim and is a lower price as a result but they don't detract from the beauty of the form. These are available either as a full set or a mug and plate/saucer pair. 

The information sheet that came with the pottery provides the following information about the clay and glaze: "The clay he uses for his pottery is brought from Staffordshire. It is oil-fired in a reduction atmosphere to produce a bidy with a burnt, rusty oatmeal colour and fine texture speckled with iron spots. The glaze is of basic feldspar, containing a small percentage of wood ash. Further glazes of oxides are added to this glaze producing colours of blue-green, rust ochre and olive green." 

The following biographical details are drawn from Welch's obituary in The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/ar...):

Welch was initially drawn to painting and studied art at college in Nuneaton, followed in 1953 by Penzance School of Art in Cornwall. There he discovered pottery under the spell of its teacher Michael Leach, son of Bernard.

Michael encouraged Robin to spend weekends and holidays at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, so he could gain technical experience as a maker at the wheel. He worked at the Leach Pottery intermittently through the 1950s, during which time he did his stint of national service, serving in the Parachute Regiment, before going to study at the Central School, London, in 1956. There his artistic horizons were further broadened by a forward-thinking and adventurous ceramics department, headed by Gilbert Harding-Green, who quickly appointed Robin as a technical assistant.

At the Central he came into contact with some remarkable creative figures, not only formative potters including Ruth Duckworth, Ian Auld, William Newland and Gordon Baldwin, but artists including Alan Davie, Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull. Baldwin in particular offered an approach to ceramics that was liberatingly experimental and open, referring to wider developments in modern art, and finding a willing convert in Robin, who was excited by the London exhibitions he saw at the time, notably a show by the American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko.

He established his first workshop in 1960, in the West End of London, but within two years he moved to Australia to help Ian Sprague set up his pottery at Beaconsfield Upper, in Victoria. In Australia, Robin made large quantities of functional pots, before returning home and moving to Stradbroke, near Eye in Suffolk, in 1965. He remained there for the rest of his life, living in an old farmhouse with extensive working space in an adjacent barn. Welch exhibited throughout the world and is represented in many private and public collections. 

Please look closely at the photographs as they form part of the description and if you have any questions please ask.