The Oxford Ceramics Gallery

26/05/2026

26/05/2026

OBJECT OF THE WEEK

Curved Bench with Scooped Seat, 2023-24
by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley

Scorched oak
40 x 218 x 39 cm
16 x 86 x 15 1/2 in
(JPLW013)

Jim Partridge and his partner Liz Walmsley treat wood in a way it deserves, not with a finely turned perfection, but with a strong sense of the material’s true vigour, retaining that elemental simplicity you find in lengths of raw timber, and in the essential life of the grain. Their various sculptural bowls (Partridge’s individual work), seats, benches and bridges are not only bold pieces of concentrated form, but carry a semblance of ritual, a sense of directness and simplicity found too in tribal or early European artefacts. But the language is confidently modern, the work as at home with contemporary architecture as in the broader British landscape from which it springs and with which it so skilfully merges. Born in Leeds in 1953, Partridge attended the John Makepeace School at Parnham House. For many years Jim and Liz have been based in Shropshire.

For further details and images of Curved Bench with Scooped Seat, 2023-24 alongside additional works by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley visit the artist pages from the link in our bio.





Images: ©️ Michael Harvey
Text: David Whiting

22/05/2026

VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP

‘Even the common articles made for daily use become endowed with beauty when they are loved’ - Soetsu Yanagi, The Beauty of Everday Things, 1926

Browse a wide selection of works from some our keys artists and more.
Visit the link in our bio to view. Available for purchase, shipped internationally.

Images: 1. Trio of Cut Sided Beakers by Rupert Spira
2. Bottle with Four Foxes by Ian Godfrey
Arkitetoner by Heidi Hentze
Priest and Pin-Up (7) by Philip Eglin
Large Bowl by Richard Batterham

17/05/2026

LAST DAY / CRAFTED AT SOTHEBY’S FOR LONDON CRAFT WEEK / 11 - 17 MAY

Manganese Dish, c. 1970s by Ian Godfrey
Stoneware
4.5 x 19 cm
2 x 7 1/2 in
(IG059)

Manganese Dish and additional works by Ian Godfrey (1942 - 1992) are available to view on our stand for Crafted at Sotheby’s, alongside London Craft Week, which comes to an end today, Sunday 17 May. We’re here at the Conduit Street Gallery at Sotheby’s until 5pm.

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2A

For more information visit the link in our bio or DM us direct

15/05/2026

VISIT US / CRAFTED AT SOTHEBY’S FOR LONDON CRAFT WEEK / 11 - 17 MAY

Gold Reflection , 2024
Gold plated
14 x 14 x 7.5 cm
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 3 in
(ADT009)

New Moon, 2025
Oxidised Britannia silver
28 x 26 x 10 cm
11 x 10 x 4 in
(ADT010)

These works by metalsmith Adi Toch (b. 1979) are available to view on our stand for Crafted at Sotheby’s alongside London Craft Week which runs through this Sunday 17 May.

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Tue 12 - Fri 15 9am - 4:30pm
Sat 16 10am - 5pm
Sun 17 12pm - 5pm

For more information visit the link in our bio or DM us direct

Image:©️ Robert Chadwick / Courtesy of Sotheby’s

14/05/2026

VISIT US / CRAFTED AT SOTHEBY’S FOR LONDON CRAFT WEEK / 11 - 17 MAY

Seal Slab, c. 1980 by Ian Godrey
Stoneware
From the estate of Ian Godfrey
3 x 17 x 17 cm
1 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 in
(IG208)

Included in our display for Crafted at Sotheby’s for London Craft Week which runs through this Sunday 17 May.

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Tue 12 - Fri 15 9am - 4:30pm
Sat 16 10am - 5pm
Sun 17 12pm - 5pm

For more information visit the link in our bio or DM us direct

Image:©️

14/05/2026

This beautiful Long Necked Oval Vase by Lucie Rie is included in Curated Ceramics for the Fired Up 4 auction later today, Thursday 14 May.

Curated Ceramics is a selection of 12 special lots curated by Kate Malone, co-founder and Artist Ambassador for FiredUp4, run in partnership with London Craft Week on display in the Central Gallery at Sotheby’s, New Bond Street.

All proceeds of this sale, and the sale of Secret Ceramics (on display in the Bing Gallery) support the work of FiredUp4. Works for both sales have been donated by the artists.

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

13/05/2026

BORN ON THIS DAY / JAMES TOWER / 1919 - 1988

James Tower made powerful pots: bowls, dishes and large vessels of flattened form with strong lyrical qualities of decoration. He was one of the few potters to have been taken up by the fine art world, his work being essentially regarded as sculpture. His most typical pieces, executed in monochrome tin-glaze with abstract resist marking across their surfaces, are amongst the most individual and distinctive of the post-war period. Free in his drawing, Tower took much of his inspiration from the Kent estuaries, born as he was on the the Isle-of-Sheppey. It was a landscape that stayed with him, his impressive series of press-moulded vessels a kind of meditative hymn to these remote watery places. Tower studied painting at the Royal Academy, and clay at the London Institute, emerging as one of the leading avant grade potters of the 1950s. Influenced particularly by Picasso and the British slipware tradition, Tower helped to introduce a new non-oriental spirit in clay. He taught the discipline at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham for many years, before becoming head of Fine Art at Brighton School of Art in 1966. He worked in other materials before returning to clay in the last decade of his life, his art helping to free the medium from its purely functional role.

Spray, 1980 by James Tower (pictured) is on display this week on our stand at Crafted at Sotheby’s, New Bond Street for London Craft Week. The exhibition runs through Sunday 17 May.

Please visit the link in our bio for further details.

Image ©️ Courtesy of Sotheby’s / Robert Chadwick
Text: David Whiting

13/05/2026

A great turn out for Adi Toch’s demonstration in the silver galleries of Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday.

The demonstration was organised as part of London Craft Week.

See works by Adi Toch on display at our presentation for Crafted at Sotheby’s this week. The exhibition runs through Sunday 17 May alongside London Craft Week.





Images: ©️ James Fordham, ,

12/05/2026

THIS WEEK AT LONDON CRAFT WEEK / VISIT US AT SOTHEBY’S

Our display for Crafted at Sotheby’s is now open and runs through this Sunday 17 May.

Highlights include a large vessel by James Tower, works in metal by Adi Toch and selection of works by Ian Godfrey.

Sotheby’s
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1A 2AA

Crafted at Sotheby’s runs through London Craft Week | 11-17 May.

Tue 12 - Fri 15 May 9am - 4:30pm
Sat 16 May 10am - 5pm
Sun 17 May 12pm - 5pm

For more information DM us direct




Image: Oxford Ceramics Display at Sotheby’s, New Bond Street ©️ Courtesy of Sotheby’s