Peter Wright (30 December 1919 – 20 June 2003) was a

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potter and sculptor.

Biography

Wright was born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

in 1919 and was brought up in

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield High ...

, north

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. After army service in World War Two, he attended

Hornsey College of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

from 1946 to 1950, learning graphics but developing his interest in clay. After Hornsey, he was appointed as a teacher of art at

Sutton Coldfield College Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

of Further Education. In 1954 he opened his own studio in

Monkton Combe Monkton Combe is a village and civil parish in north Somerset, England, south of Bath. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Tucking Mill, had a population of 554 in 2013. It was formerly known as Combe, owing to its geography, while it was ...

, just outside Bath, before relocating to Gloucester Street in the city. His pottery marks dating from 1953 include his initials, his name and the outline of a fish. As an avant-garde ceramic artist and clay sculptor he began teaching at

Bath Academy of Art Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton P ...

in 1957, the same year in which his work was shown at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Wright's work has been acquired by several museums around the world. He died on 20 June 2003 in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, aged 83.

Personal life

He was married to Sheila and they had one son. The marriage ended in separation in the 1960s.

Legacy

A retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the

Bristol Guild of Applied Art The Bristol Guild of Applied Art, more commonly referred to within Bristol as simply The Guild, is a privately held department store on Bristol's Park Street in the UK. Founded in 1908, the Guild was inspired by the philosophy of William Mor ...

Gallery in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Peter (ceramicist) 1919 births 2003 deaths British potters English male sculptors People from Hitchin 20th-century ceramists British Army personnel of World War II