Looking behind the public persona of a well-known figure inevitably changes our understanding of them. When it is someone with such iconic status as Bernard Leach (1887-1979), a potter with a world-famous reputation, any detailed examination must look at the facts and assess accordingly. Of all the potters of the twentieth century, few have attracted such admiration and respect, not to mention approbation, mistrust and resentment. Although widely acknowledged as the father of studio pottery, and generally accepted as being at the forefront of raising public knowledge and appreciation of the discipline, many are critical of his influence and legacy. Some view it as having had a deadening effect on experiment and innovation, his views on the concept of the 'moral pot' as dogmatic, and his approach to the craft as too narrow and limiting. For others he is one of the true pioneer potters, forging fresh understanding of the potter's art, and attempting to define 'standards' at a time of uncertainty. With all this in my mind the decision to embark on a full-scale biography in an attempt to sort out the myth from reality, separate opinion from fact, was based on a desire to get to know the man, to examine what he was about and the ideas that inspired him. How far I succeeded is for others to decide, but over the course of the last seven years I feel I did get to know Leach from the inside and to understand how he thought.
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