Cecil Archibald Baugh (November 22, 1908 – June 28, 2005), was a Jamaican master potter and artist. Baugh was born on November 22, 1908 in Bangor Ridge, Portland Parish Portland, Jamaica to Isaac Baugh, a sawyer, and Emma Corban-Baugh, a farmer. He attended the Bangor Ridge Primary School. Baugh then moved to Kingston, Jamaica Kingston and began an apprenticeship under Susan and Ethel Trench field from St. Elizabeth. Later, he worked alongside Wilfred Lord a free form potter. Baugh sold much of his early pottery as a 'yabba man', selling at street markets. Baugh then worked as a groundsman at the St James country club in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

, and later as a door-to-door pottery salesman in Kingston. He soon returned to Montego Bay where he opened his own studio and kiln, the Cornwall Clay Works. In 1938, at an arts and crafts exhibition in Kingston, he met the painter

Albert Huie Albert Huie (31 December 1920 – 31 January 2010) was a Jamaican painter. Early life and education Born in Falmouth, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, Huie moved to Kingston when he was 16 years old;

, who became a lifelong friend.

Later life

In 1941, Baugh volunteered for the British army. He served as a

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

for a year in

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. He was stationed in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

for three years, where he was introduced to a method of pottery glazing which mirrored his self-invented 'Egyptian Blue'. Baugh was then transferred to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, where he was given time off to attend art school. In 1946 he returned to Jamaica where he opened a pottery studio on Mountain View Avenue in Kingston. He then travelled to the United Kingdom in June 1948 where he studied with Margaret Leach and the famous British potter

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

. He returned to Jamaica in 1949 and in 1950 mounted his first one-man exhibition. In 1962, Baugh, Albert Huie, Linden Leslie, Jerry Isaacs, and

Edna Manley Edna Swithenbank Manley, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (28 February 1900 – 2 February 1987) is considered one of the most important artists and arts educators in Jamaica. She was known primarily as a sculptor although her oeuvre included signi ...

formed the Jamaica School of Art, now the

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, formerly Jamaica School of Art and Crafts, is an art school in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1940, Edna Manley pioneered evening art classes at the Institute of Jamaica's Junior Centre but it was ...

. Baugh taught at the institution until his retirement in 1975.

Honors and awards

Baugh received a Silver

Musgrave Medal The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 a ...

from the

Institute of Jamaica The Institute of Jamaica (IOJ), founded in 1879, is the country's most significant cultural, artistic and scientific organisation:Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

, Commander class, by the Government of Jamaica, and in 1977, he received the Norman Manley Award of Excellence. In 1980, Baugh as awarded the Centenary Medal of the Institute of Jamaica. In 1981, he received the Jamaica Bauxite Institute Award, and in 1984 the Gold Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica for his book ''Baugh, Jamaica's Master Potter''. In 1991 the

National Gallery of Jamaica The National Gallery of Jamaica, in Kingston, Jamaica, is Jamaica's public art museum. It was established in 1974 and is located in the Kingston Mall, a commercial and cultural center on Kingston harbour. The National Gallery of Jamaica also has ...

opened the Cecil Baugh Gallery of Ceramics as part of the development of the visual arts on the Island. In 1994, he received the George William Gordon Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts, and the

Order of Jamaica The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system. Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...

in 2003. In 2004 he received the Gleaner Honour Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture.

Personal life and death

In 1928, Baugh married Susan Trenchfield's niece, Beryl Ebanks, with whom he had three daughters, one of whom predeceased him. His second wife, Iris Baugh (née Johnson), whom he married in 1975, also predeceased him. Baugh died on June 28, 2005 at the age of 96. He is survived by his daughters, Leila and Myrtle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baugh, Cecil 1908 births 2005 deaths People from Portland Parish Members of the Order of Jamaica Commanders of the Order of Distinction Recipients of the Musgrave Medal