![]() A book on building electric kilns, with clear instructions and practical advice, dispelled much of the mystique around constructing simple but efficient structures. ![]() It was also at Lacock that Fournier pursued his interest in writing. The pots were shown successfully at galleries in Britain, as well as in Germany and France. He was particularly renowned for producing a vibrant turquoise blue. These were decorated with areas of unglazed clay, poured, textured white glaze and dotted with small patches of rich, saturated colour. With a sure understanding of the organic structures of stones, rocks and plants, he translated these into clay through the use of simple, hand-built or moulded dish shapes, or tall flattened bottles. Here Robert Fournier consolidated his ceramics, producing what became his signature pieces, a range of "pebble" pots that were based on natural forms. In 1971 they settled in the beautiful village of Lacock in Wiltshire, leasing the old workhouse from the National Trust on a peppercorn rent. Aware of the growing interest in ceramics, Fournier issued 500 colour slides of historical ceramics, then a revolutionary educational aid much-used by schools and individual potters. Here they produced stoneware, developing individual pieces as well as a range of tableware. In 1948 he established the pottery department at Goldsmiths' College, London, and it was here he met Sheila Cook, one of his students, whom he married in 1961.įor a time, he and Sheila had a studio in Greenwich, before moving to Castle Hill in Kent in 1965. In 1946 he set up Ducketts Wood Pottery in Hertfordshire, where he produced slipware, tin-glaze and later mosaics. Fournier took a job as a technician at the school, becoming Billington's assistant. Far from following the established approach to pottery, based on an aesthetic of quietude advocated by Bernard Leach, Billington encouraged a more eclectic view that included Mediterranean and industrial wares. To train as a potter, he enrolled in an evening class at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, where he came under the watchful eye of Dora Billington, an outstanding teacher and potter. The death in a plane crash in Wales of his only brother, Victor, aged 21, a navigator in the RAF, confirmed his pacifist beliefs.Īfter the war, intent on pursuing a career in art, Fournier visited London Zoo and subsequently modelled animals, which he sold. During the Blitz, as bombs fell on London, he helped produce the prisoners' magazine. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Fournier was imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs for refusing to enlist. For a time he and Sylvia worked as farm labourers, horrifying their neighbours by living as a couple in a shed. But their plans to settle were thwarted when they bought a piece of land from a con man and lost all their money. Keen to live in the country, he moved to Hertfordshire with his then-partner, Sylvia. After school he joined the library service, working at Fulham Library. At grammar school Robert did well in art, and also composed poetry, which his teacher refused to believe had been written by him. His mother, interested in politics, became a Labour alderman. Like his French grandfather, his father was a carpenter, who helped build aircraft in the First World War, and later motor cars. Something of a rebel, he was a lifelong pacifist and atheist, and his decision to become a potter was, in part, a refusal to compete in what he saw as an increasingly consumer-led society.įournier was born into a modest family in west London. The potter Robert Fournier was as well known for his many distinguished reference books as his inventive ceramics. Meditation by Emmanuel Cooper in The Independent Robert is also well known as the co-writer of the essential book British Studio Potters' Marks. Robert died Market Lavington, Wiltshire 19 January 2008 (text Studio ). They have variously worked in thrown and hand-built earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, making tableware and decorative items. He was renowned for producing a bright turquoise colour. It was here, that Robert produced his signature pieces, a range of 'pebble pots' based on natural forms, decorated with areas of raw clay and poured, white glaze and small areas of saturated colour. They settled in Lacock in 1971, turning the old workhouse building into their home and studios. ![]() Robert taught Sheila to pot and they continued potting together in Greenwich, Kent and Wiltshire until 1987. In 1961 he married Sheila Cook, who was trained as a teacher, and they moved to Greenwich in London. Robert Charles Privet Fournier is born in London 16 March 1915. Robert Fournier set up Ducketts Wood Pottery in Hertforshire in 1946. ![]()
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