Blue plate by Seth Cardew
Brown plate by Seth Cardew
Brown plate by Seth Cardew (mark)
Cardew bowl
Cardew dish
Cardew miniature teapot
Cardew miniature teapot (mark)
Deep Michael Cardew bowl
Handled Seth Cardew bowl
Large Cardew floral jar
Large Danlami Aliyu teapot
Large Seth Cardew jar
Lidded OBrien jug
Lidded OBrien jug (mark)
Michael Cardew covered bowl
Michael Cardew jug
Michael Cardew oval dish
Michael Cardew oval dish (mark)
Michael Cardew screw-top flask
Michael Cardew stem cups
Michael Cardew stool
Michael Cardew teapot
Michael OBrien plate
Michael OBrien plate (marks)
Miniature Wenford Bridge jug
Miniature Wenford Bridge jug (base)
OBrien (mark)
OBrien plate
OBrien Wenford Bridge plate
Obrien Wenford Bridge plate (marks)
Round Cardew storage jar
Round Cardew storage jar (mark)
Sam Ullick tenmoku tankard
Sam Ullick tenmoku tankard (marks)
Seth Cardew beaker
Seth Cardew bird plate
Seth Cardew bowl
Seth Cardew bowl (mark)
Seth Cardew bowl II
Seth Cardew celadon bowl
Seth Cardew celadon bowl (mark)
Seth Cardew cup and saucer
Seth Cardew cup and saucer (mark)
Seth Cardew double jampot
Seth Cardew double jampot (mark)
Seth Cardew jar - feathered friends
Seth Cardew jar - unfeathered friends
Seth Cardew lidded jug
Seth Cardew lidded pots
Seth Cardew mug
Seth Cardew mug (detail)
Seth Cardew mug (mark)
Seth Cardew oval dish
Seth Cardew oval dish (mark)
Seth Cardew plant pot
Seth Cardew plant pot (mark)
Seth Cardew plate
Seth Cardew platter
Seth Cardew platter (mark)
Seth Cardew porcelain vase
Seth Cardew porcelain vase (mark)
Seth Cardew stool
Seth Cardew teapot
Seth Cardew teapot (mark)
Seth Cardew Tenmoku teapot
Seth Cardew yunomi
Seth Cardew yunomi (mark)
Small Seth Cardew Bowl
Small Seth Cardew Bowl (mark)
Svend Bayer pot
Svend Bayer pot (mark)
Tiny Wenford egg cup
Tiny Wenford egg cup (mark)
Wenford Bridge dish
Wenford Bridge dish (mark)
Wenford Bridge jug
Wenford Bridge jug (mark)
Wenford Bridge mug
Wenford Bridge mug (mark)
Wenford Bridge teapot
Wenford Bridge teapot (mark)
Wenford Bridge wall pocket
Wenford Bridge wall pocket (mark)

Wenford Bridge Pottery

Wenford Bridge Pottery

Michael Cardew moved from Winchcombe to Wenford Bridge on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall with his wife, Mariel, and his three young sons in June 1939. They bought the derelict Wenford Inn for £500 and started to convert it for use as a pottery.

Before the conversion was finished, war broke out, and after only two glaze firings at Wenford Cardew had to return to Winchcombe to help Ray Finch who had been badly affected by the conscription of both Charlie and Sid Tustin. He stayed there until June 1942. While he was at Winchcombe he was offered the position of Pottery Instructor at Achimota on the African Gold Coast. Money was tight and the £600 per annum that the job offered was too good to refuse. Cardew was to remain in Africa for the next six years, with only a brief return to England during the winter of 1944/1945.

In 1948 trouble was brewing in West Africa and Cardew's life was threatened. He returned to his wife, family and home in July of that year. He worked as a thrower in Surrey for six months and then resumed work at Wenford Bridge.

In 1950 Ivan McMeekin, an Australian potter joined as a partner, and ran the pottery when Cardew returned yet again to West Africa. McMeekin build a down-draught kiln and produced stoneware at Wenford Bridge until 1954. Cardew spent two months of each year at Wenford Bridge during his fifteen year stay in Nigeria, but after McMeekin returned to Australia the pottery was unused until Cardew's retirement from his African post in 1965.

Cardew then potted at Wenford Bridge when lecture tours and demonstrations permitted until his death in 1983. In 1971 he was joined by his eldest son, Seth Cardew, and in the following years many fine potters including Svend Bayer, Michael OBrien and Danlami Aliyu spent time there as students.

Wenford Bridge Pottery closed in late 2004 when Seth moved to Spain


Further Reading:
Pioneer Pottery by Michael Cardew


 
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