Ray Finch (1914-2012) English, Winchcombe Pottery Tea Bowl. Produced in the 1970s. Marked on the underside. 

Size: 4 x 4 x 4 in. 

Alfred Raymond Finch (known as Ray Finch) was born in Streatham, South London on November 27th, 1914. In 1935, intrigued by the Greet Potteries at Winchcombe, Gloucestershire started by Michael Cardew, he sought employment there, and was encouraged by Cardew to attend the Central School of Art and Design, studying under Dora Billington. Cardew hired him a year later, and ten years later Finch purchased the pottery from him, renaming it Winchcombe Pottery. In 1952 he started experimenting with more difficult clay and patterns, shifting to larger stoneware works over the next two years with various new kilns, and he spent the next twenty years championing the workshop apprenticeship system, giving kiln time to many up-and-coming potters like Colin Pearson, Jim Malone, John Leach (grandson of Bernard Leach), and Gwyn Hanssen Pigott. Finch managed Winchcombe until 1979 when his son Michael took over, and was given an MBE and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Ceramics Festival later in life, with many of his original works in the Victoria and Albert Museum. He passed away on January 18th, 2012.

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