This bowl has been in RAMM’s collection since 1968. It was made by the potter Robin Welch. In the 1950’s Robin left Nuneaton in Warwickshire, to come to Cornwall to study at Penzance School of Art. He also worked at Bernard Leach’s pottery in St. Ives for three years before moving to London in 1960. Robin was then a postgraduate at Central School of Art in London and he started his own workshop.
In 1962 Robin had the opportunity to go to Australia. This journey was significant for the future development of his ceramic work. This stoneware bowl is an example of the impact that his travels had on his pottery. It was made on Robin's return from Australia in 1965 when he set up a studio in Suffolk. It shows the inspiration of the Australian outback, in its colour, texture and patterns. The body of the bowl is the colour of warm, baked earth while the inside bears broad bands of ochre and red. An irregular, splash-like pool of deep red in the base of the bowl contrasts with the regularity of the stripes and adds a subtle and surprising organic hidden energy at its heart.
Over his long career Robin used this shape of bowl many times but each time his colours, textures and patterns would vary.
Robin is now in his eighties but he is still producing work of warm colour and texture from his studio in Suffolk.
