The great American potter Warren MacKenzie first visited Bernard Leach in St. Ives way back in 1949 and returned the following year as an apprentice with his first wife Alix. They stayed for 2½ years before returning to the USA to establish their own pottery in Stillwater, Minnesota where Warren lived the rest of his life. Warren himself took on apprentices and the result is a thriving community of potters in the area.

Warren returned to St. Ives on a number of occasions, most recently in 2013 when he had an exhibition and held a masterclass at the Leach Pottery. I planned to visit but due to illness I missed the chance and alas it is now too late to meet Warren.

The four pots illustrated are from my collection. The lidded jar was made at John Reeve's Longlands Pottery at Hennock in Devon in the late 1960s and the other pots were all made at Warren's pottery in Stillwater.