Tea bowl with Frog design c. 20th century

Bernard Leach made this tea bowl with frog design, sometime in the 20th century. It’s lovely, isn’t it? A kind of quiet blue, with some dark sketchy lines that give it a sense of movement, like the frog is just about to leap off the surface. You can tell it was made by hand, the shape is a bit uneven, which gives it a nice, personal touch. Look at the texture of the glaze. See how it’s not perfectly smooth, but has these tiny bumps and speckles? That’s the kind of thing that comes from working with natural materials, and letting the process have its say. It makes the bowl feel more alive, more connected to the earth. And the frog itself is so simple, just a few lines, but it captures the essence of frogginess perfectly. It’s like a little poem, a tiny, fleeting moment captured in clay. Leach was a big fan of Japanese pottery, and you can see that influence here, in the simplicity and the focus on natural materials. But he also brought his own sensibility to it, creating something that feels both ancient and modern at the same time. It reminds me a little of some of Cy Twombly's work, the way he used simple lines to create a sense of movement and energy. But of course, Leach was working with clay, not paint, so it’s a different kind of thing entirely.