Creative Kernow
This is the first major exhibition of the works and life of William (Bill) Marshall since his death in 2007 and was held in the museum at the Leach Pottery between April 16th and July 16th 2011. Bill was the Leach Pottery’s first apprentice. In 1934, David Leach visited St Ives School looking for apprentices for the Leach workshop. Bill, a boy of 14, raised his hand. During the 40+ years that followed Bill became the pottery’s foreman and Bernard Leach’s right hand man. When he finally left in the 1970s to set up his own pottery in Lelant, Bill was a master potter in his own right and one of the best throwers in the UK but he was still relatively unknown outside of the pottery world. He had overseen standardware production and trained many of the young apprentices who passed through. It is widely accepted that Bill also made or co-made many of the pots which are attributed to his master and teacher Bernard Leach.
With text written by his widow and daughter and recordings of memories of his son Andrew Marshall, collected during the Memory Bay Oral History project, we will bring together 60 of the finest Bill Marshall pots from private collections, many previously unshown, and set up 3 month show, including drawings, documents and artefacts of his work. We also hope to take this opportunity to announce the appointment of our first young person as a William Marshall apprentice in the studio.