Michael Cardew
Bowlcirca 1970

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Artist or Maker: Michael Cardew
England, 1901-1983
Title: Bowl
Place Made: Wenford Bridge
Date Made: circa 1970
Medium: Stoneware
Dimensions: 5 3/4 × 14 × 14 in. (14.61 × 35.56 × 35.56 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Margaret and Joel Chen, Oliver Furth and Sean Yashar, Alison and Sasha Palevsky, and Viveca Paulin-Ferrell and Will Ferrell through the 2024 Decorative Arts and Design Acquisitions Committee (DA²)
Accession Number: M.2024.82.3
Classification: Ceramics
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: Michael Cardew called himself the “Mud and Water Man,” which was also the title of a 1974 film about his lifelong devotion to ceramics and the alchemical magic that resulted when his hands touched clay. Cardew championed functional, affordable ceramics inspired by the English slipware tradition but infused with a modernist sensibility. He apprenticed in the early 1920s in St. Ives, Cornwall, under Bernard Leach, considered the father of British studio pottery. Leach was notable for combining British and Japanese ceramic traditions, and Cardew became a lifelong proponent of the Arts and Crafts values of “joy in labor” and creating well-made objects for everyday use. Appointed the Pottery Officer for the Department of Commerce and Industry in Nigeria in 1951, he set up a facility in Abuja for African and British students, intending to build a local ceramics industry. Cardew remained in Nigeria until 1965, where he trained many students, including his most famous protégé, Ladi Kwali (M.2024.82.1). Upon his return to the UK, he resumed making pottery in Cornwall, at a facility he had acquired called Wenford Bridge. Although this bowl was made there, it reflects Cardew’s long residence in Nigeria and the indelible influence of African forms and motifs, such as the line-and-dot pattern, on his work.

Bobbye Tigerman

2024

Michael Cardew
Bowlcirca 1970

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Michael Cardew
Bowlcirca 1970

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