Richard Batterham pottery

Richard Batterham 

Recent pots

We have just one magnificent Large Fruit Bowl by Richard Batterham available now and we await more pots shortly. Please email gallery@sladersyard.co.uk if you would like to be notified when new Richard Batterham pots come available. They are extremely popular and you may have to move quickly to reserve work once it becomes available.

Potter Richard Batterham is generally accepted to be this country’s leading maker of domestic stoneware. Last year he celebrated his 80th birthday. After a summer of what he calls ‘reconstruction’ with a hip replacement and cataracts on both eyes, he is back in action, fulfilling a very long list of orders, many via Sladers Yard. The stock we are showing is either newly fired or selected by Richard from his personal collection of favourite pots gathered over the last thirty or so years.

Born 1936, Richard Batterham became interested in pottery at a very young age at Bryanston School, where an interest in craft and design was greatly encouraged. He learnt under the guidance of Donald Potter, who was a student of Eric Gill and had also worked with Michael Cardew at Winchcombe. After National Service, Batterham worked for two years under Bernard Leach at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall.  There he and his future wife, Dinah Dunn, met Atsuya Hamada, a son of Shoji Hamada.  ‘I think we got a lot from him,’ Batterham says, ‘about how to handle clay. We were very lucky.’

RB599 Large Melon Teapot H17 D15cm SOLD

In 1959 they left to set up their own pottery at Durweston outside Blandford.  In 1967 Batterham moved into a new pottery workshop in Durweston and built a four-chambered oil and wood-fired kiln.  In 1978 with the help of the French potter Thiebaut Chaque, he also built a small salt glaze kiln.

RB503 8 inch Caddy star on lid h.22cm dia.18cm SOLD

Still in the same pottery, he works alone and now has about five firings a year producing some of his best work to date.  His pots are often referred to as the finest domestic stoneware in the Leach tradition, although he feels more in tune with the attitudes of Michael Cardew. His pots are made to enrich life rather than to adorn it. A superb craftsman, his colours are soft bues and greens through to caramel, browns and blacks with the nature of his glazes varying from thin and bright to thicker softer glazes. His forms are functional – simple, satisfying and beautiful. Some pots, he says, ‘call out to me that they are really good ones’ and those are the pots we show.

RB595 Large Fruit Dish H12 D51cm £1,275 AVAILABLE

Describing his own pots, Richard Batterham refers to some of them as ’soft’ or ‘kind’, emphasising their human quality. ‘Michael Cardew used to say form was everything, and form is very important, but I tend to feel that it’s how the clay is handled that really makes a difference. I like to make something you can hold. If someone really hugs onto a pot, that’s lovely and just how it should be.’ Brushing away his own pre-eminence, he says, ‘You just get into the right frame of mind and get on with it.’

RB523 Old salad bowl from above SOLD

Richard Batterham’s work is in numerous museums, including the Tate and the V&A, and private collections and has been shown all over the world.  This will be Richard’s fifth major selling exhibition at Sladers Yard. Between shows we try to keep a continuous stock of his beautiful pots.

RB551 Large Sugar Jar H30 D24cm SOLD

To buy or enquire about a pot please phone Sladers Yard on 01308 459511 or email gallery@sladersyard.co.uk. If you hover your mouse over a pot its caption and price should appear. If you click on any of the images below they will all appear bigger with captions. Any difficulties with the technology, give us a call. Measurements are of the widest or tallest part of the pot. Please note the difference between the diameter of the circular part of a pot and the width which will include any handles, spouts etc. We are happy to ship pots.

 

RB595 Large Fruit Dish H12 D51cm from above £1,275

RB595 Large Fruit Dish H12 D51cm from above

RB551 SOLD Large Sugar Jar H30 D24cm

RB599 SOLD Large Melon Teapot H17 D15cm

RB523 SOLD Old salad bowl from above

RB569 SOLD Three Pint Jug salt H22.5 W12.5cm

RB523A SOLD Old Salad Bowl H11 D26cm

RB599 SOLD Large Melon Teapot from above H17 D15cm

SOLD RB586 Coffee Mug H9cm £15.50 RB23 3 pint jug salt H22cm SOLD

RB569 SOLD Three Pint Jug salt from above

RB568 SOLD Three Pint Jug black from above

RB568 SOLD Three Pint Jug black H21.5 W12cm

SOLD RB596 Very Large Serving Dish from above H8cm D39.5cm

RB572 SOLD Half Pint Jug black H11.5 W8.5cm

RB572 SOLD Half Pint Jug black from above

RB551 SOLD Large Sugar Jar from above

SOLD RB555 8 inch Caddy fluted SOLD

SOLD RB596 Very Large Serving Dish H8cm D39.5cm £330

SOLD RB555 8 inch Caddy fluted SOLD

SOLD RB556 Big Cut Jar Salt Glazed H36 D19cm

SOLD RB556 Big Cut Jar Salt Glazed from above H36 D19cm

SOLD RB620 Small white glazed eating bowl from above

SOLD RB620 Small white glazed eating bowl H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB623 Small white glazed eating bowl from above

SOLD RB623 Small white glazed eating bowl H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB625 Small white glazed eating bowl from above

SOLD RB625 Small white glazed eating bowl H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB617 Small green glazed eating bowl from above H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB618 Small green glazed eating bowl from above H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB617 Small green glazed eating bowl H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB613 Small yogurt bowl from above H8 D17cm

SOLD RB618 Small green glazed eating bowl H6 D13.5cm

SOLD RB613 Small yogurt bowl H8 D17cm

SOLD RB609 Small Yogurt Bowl H8 D17cm £35

SOLD RB609 Small yogurt bowl from above H8 D17cm £35

SOLD RB602 Medium Cut Teapot H14.5 D11.5cm

SOLD RB602 Medium Cut Teapot from above

SOLD RB601 Large Cut Teapot H14.5 D13cm from above

SOLD RB601 Large Cut Teapot H14.5 D13cm

SOLD RB598 Lugged Pan H7 W17.5cm £78

SOLD RB586 Coffee Mug H9 D7.5cm

SOLD RB584 Coffee Mug H9 D7.5cm

SOLD RB598 Lugged Pan H7 W17.5cm £78

SOLD RB578 Half Pint Mug H10.5 D8cm £24.50

SOLD RB566 Big Jug Green H27.5 W13.5cm

SOLD RB566 Big Jug Green from above

SOLD RB562 Quarter Pound Caddy fluted H13 D11cm

SOLD RB562 Quarter Pound Caddy fluted from above H13 D11cm

SOLD RB560 Large Cut Spice Jar from above H15 D14cm

SOLD RB579 Half Pint Mug H10.5 D8cm

SOLD RB560 Large Cut Spice Jar H15 D14cm

SOLD RB559 Large Casserole H17.5 W25cm inc. handles

SOLD RB558 Large Casserole from above

SOLD RB559 Large Casserole from above

SOLD RB558 Large Casserole inside

SOLD RB559 Large Casserole inside

SOLD RB557 Square Jar salt glazed H12.5 D17.5cm

SOLD RB557 Square Jar salt glazed from above

SOLD RB552 H27 D20

RB550 SOLD Large Square Jar H27cm D20cm

RB582, 583 BOTH SOLD Half Pint Mugs H10.5 D8cm

SOLD RB512 Pint Jug manganese H13cm D9cm

RB578, 579, 582, 583 ALL SOLD 1/2 pint mugs H10.5cm D8cm

RB550 SOLD Large Square Jar H27cm D20cm

SOLD RB512 Pint Jug from above

SOLD RB552 Smaller Sugar Jar H27 D20 SOLD

SOLD RB558 Large Casserole H17 W25cm inc handles