Ian SPRAGUE (1920 - 18 April 1994) Born Geelong, Victoria Ian Broun Sprague's initial training was in Architecture, completing a degree at the University of Melbourne in 1950. After a serious car accident in England, Sprague was encouraged to take up a craft to restore the strength in his arms. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London for three years, and spent two months at the David Leach Pottery in Devon, before returning to Australia in 1962. In 1964 Ian Sprague established the Craft Centre in Toorak Road, South Yarra, and the Mungeribar Pottery in Upper Beaconsfield, with Robin Welch, Mungeribar being an Aboriginal word meaning 'red clay'. In 1981, he moved to Mooney-Mooney, NSW (Mungeribar was gutted by bushfires shortly after he left), and to Noosa in 1992. The Mungeribar Pottery mark is an impressed 'm', and Sprague's own mark is an impressed 'IS' with the S rendered in Morse code. Ian Sprague's Mungeribar apprentices were Grattan Burley, Victor Greenaway (1969–73), Christopher Sanders (1976-78}, Trevor Hanby (1978–80). In 1981, he moved to Mooney-Mooney, NSW , and Noosa in 1992. Greenaway's mark in his Mungeribar years was an impressed capital G. Grattan Burley (for six months), The Craft Centre in South Yarra was owned and stocked entirely by Ian Sprague, and he travelled all over Australia in search of the best possible textiles, glassware, woodwork and jewellery, not just pottery. The opening exhibition showed the pottery of Robin Welch. Sprague sold the Centre in 1967, but soon started a campaign for a government funded centre, eventually established as the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne. In 1971 Sprague became president of the recently created Craft Association of Victoria. Dismayed by the quality of teaching in art schools and technical colleges, he ran many workshops around the country on the textural treatment of clay. This work is part of the Jan Feder Memorial Ceramics Collection. Jan Feder was an alumna of the Gippsland Campus who studied ceramics on the campus. She passed away in the mid 1980s. Her student peers raised funds to buy ceramic works in her memory. They bought works from visiting lecturers who became leading ceramic artists around the world, as well as from many of the staff who taught there.Contemporary ArtTexture fire clay slab and partly glazed wall panel. Ian Sprague produced his hand modeleed wall panels by cutting them from fireclay blocks, heating and scraping them, and applying bold simplified motifs. A strong solution of salted wated was poured onto the rugged clay surfaceswhich produced a warm toasted surface effect. The panels show a clear understanding of the modulation of two dimensional relief sculpture. Artists stamp on lower RH cornerceramics, ian sprague, gippsland campus, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, mungeribar, meat markery craft centre, craft centre south yarra

Robin WELCH (1936- ) Born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England Robin Welch is one of the most highly respected contemporary British potters. The full range of his work includes large vessels with related paintings, fine drawings, and distinctive bowls and vases which explore colour, surface texture, form, detail of edge, and line. Initially studying at Penzance School of Art and the Central School of Art, London Robin Welch then worked part-time at the Leach Pottery between 1953 and 1959 before opening his own pottery in London's west end (1960 to 1962). After a couple of years of world travel, including working in Australia from 1962 to1965 helping Ian Sprague set up his Mungeribar Pottery and exhibiting in Melbourne, Robin Welch returned to England setting up Stadbroke Pottery in Eye, Suffolk in 1965. This work is part of the Jan Feder Memorial Ceramics Collection. Jan Feder was an alumna of the Gippsland Campus who studied ceramics on the campus. She passed away in the mid 1980s. Her student peers raised funds to buy ceramic works in her memory. They bought works from visiting lecturers who became leading ceramic artists around the world, as well as from many of the staff who taught there.Stoneware bowl with single flange. White glaze with copper tint. Dry black glaze underneath and airbrushed lustre banding. Robin Welch stamped on base.ceramics, robin welch, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, jan feder, gippsland campus, stadbroke pottery, mungeribar pottery

Robin WELCH (1936- ) Born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England Robin Welch is one of the most highly respected contemporary British potters. The full range of his work includes large vessels with related paintings, fine drawings, and distinctive bowls and vases which explore colour, surface texture, form, detail of edge, and line. Initially studying at Penzance School of Art and the Central School of Art, London Robin Welch then worked part-time at the Leach Pottery between 1953 and 1959 before opening his own pottery in London's west end (1960 to 1962). After a couple of years of world travel, including working in Australia from 1962 to1965 helping Ian Sprague set up his Mungeribar Pottery and exhibiting in Melbourne, Robin Welch returned to England setting up Stadbroke Pottery in Eye, Suffolk in 1965. This work is part of the Jan Feder Memorial Ceramics Collection. Jan Feder was an alumna of the Gippsland Campus who studied ceramics on the campus. She passed away in the mid 1980s. Her student peers raised funds to buy ceramic works in her memory. They bought works from visiting lecturers who became leading ceramic artists around the world, as well as from many of the staff who taught there.Raku Fired stoneware bowl with White Crackle Glaze by Robin Welch Robin Welch stamped on baserobin welch, ceramics, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, gippsland campus

"I am an Australian of German parents born in Persia. I was taught by Peter Rushforth, with a very strong Japanese influence. My work attempts to incorporate these four elements of my history. For form, my influence comes from Art Nouveau, or Jugendstil as it is called in Germany. Techniques are informed by pottery from Japan, China, Korea and Germany. My colours are inspired by the Australian landscape. Using the language of woodfiring, I create a personal vocabulary with new subjects, grammar and syntax, which make each pot a one-off object containing all my diverse influences." (Roswitha Wulff)Roswitha WULFF (1941- ) Born Tabrize, Iran. Arrived Austrqalia c1949 Roswitha Wulff spent her early childhood with her mother, potter Helma Klett, in Germany. In 1964, she obtained a ceramics certificate from the East Sydney Technical College. From 1964-65, she worked with Robin Welch and Ian Sprague at Sprague's Mungeribar Pottery in Upper Beaconsfield, VIC. In 1966 she worked at the Sturt Pottery in Mittagong, NSW under Les Blakebrough. Between 1967 and 1969 Roswitha Wulff travelled overseas, spending 6 monthe with Robin Welch after his return to England and 9 months as a full-time thrower at Briglin Pottery, London, as well as working in potteries in Denmark and Germany. From 1969-70, she worked in North-West Pakistan as a research scholar for the Smithonian Institute and the University of NSW. Returning to Australia in 1970, she set up a workshop in Paddington, NSW, with the help of an Australia Council grant and taught part-time at the East Sydney Technical College and the Willoughby Workshop Art Centre. Since then she has been a lecturer and Head of Ceramics in many institutions, including the National Art School. In the 1990s she moved her studio to Botany Bay, NSW.. While working with the vessel form, she sees her pots as abstract landscapes. Recently she has also been working with wall tiles. During a residency at the Canberra School of Art in 2002, she developed tiles that looked like woodfired pillows with soft rounded rims. In 2007, she used such tiles to create a mural commemorating the Sesquicentenary of St Vincent's Hospital in Paddington. Woodfired stoneware bowl with flay ashSigned on baseroswitha wulff, jan feder, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, woodfire, ceramics, gippsland campus, botany bay studio pottery

Robin WELCH ( 23 July 1936-5 December 2019) Born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England Robin Welch is one of the most highly respected contemporary British potters. The full range of his work includes large vessels with related paintings, fine drawings, and distinctive bowls and vases which explore colour, surface texture, form, detail of edge, and line. He is one of small group of significant British potters who expanded the language of throwing pots on the wheel through post-wheel additions and alteration. This gave his generally cylindrical forms a more organic and sculptural aspect, but their heavily coloured and textured surfaces were as much about painting, too, as Robin sought an integration of the visual disciplines he enjoyed. As he once wrote: “There’s no divide between art or craft. You decide to be an artist and you’ll use anything. If marooned on a desert island you’d use driftwood.” (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/27/robin-welch-obituary, accessed 23 March 2021) Initially studying at Penzance School of Art under Michael Leach (son of Bernard Leach) and the Central School of Art, London Robin Welch then worked part-time at the Leach Pottery between 1953 and 1959 before opening his own pottery in London's west end (1960 to 1962). After a couple of years of world travel, including working in Australia from 1962 to1965 helping Ian Sprague set up his Mungeribar Pottery and exhibiting in Melbourne, Robin Welch returned to England setting up Stadbroke Pottery in Eye, Suffolk in 1965. Apart from his studion work Robnin Welch was a skilled designer for industry including Wedgwood. When not in his Suffolk studio Robin Welch spent much time in Australia where he appreciated the outback’s arid earth, brilliant light, grittier textures and luminous colour. When not in his Suffolk studio Robin Welch spent much time in Australia where he appreciated the outback’s arid earth and brilliant light, its grittier textures and luminous colour, qualities he sought to convey in-the-round and on canvas. Apart from his studion work Robnin Welch was a skilled designer for industry including Wedgwood, Midwinter and Denby.Stoneware bowl with flange. Glazed in white matt crackle with a faint copper red tint. Dry black glazed rim. Gift of the artist.Robin Welch stamped on baseceramics, robin welch, gippsland, gppsland campus, jan feder memorial ceramics collection

Robin WELCH ( 23 July 1936-5 December 2019) Born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England Robin Welch is one of the most highly respected contemporary British potters. The full range of his work includes large vessels with related paintings, fine drawings, and distinctive bowls and vases which explore colour, surface texture, form, detail of edge, and line. He is one of small group of significant British potters who expanded the language of throwing pots on the wheel through post-wheel additions and alteration. This gave his generally cylindrical forms a more organic and sculptural aspect, but their heavily coloured and textured surfaces were as much about painting, too, as Robin sought an integration of the visual disciplines he enjoyed. As he once wrote: “There’s no divide between art or craft. You decide to be an artist and you’ll use anything. If marooned on a desert island you’d use driftwood.” (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/27/robin-welch-obituary, accessed 23 March 2021) Initially studying at Penzance School of Art under Michael Leach (son of Bernard Leach) and the Central School of Art, London Robin Welch then worked part-time at the Leach Pottery between 1953 and 1959 before opening his own pottery in London's west end (1960 to 1962). After a couple of years of world travel, including working in Australia from 1962 to1965 helping Ian Sprague set up his Mungeribar Pottery and exhibiting in Melbourne, Robin Welch returned to England setting up Stadbroke Pottery in Eye, Suffolk in 1965. Apart from his studion work Robnin Welch was a skilled designer for industry including Wedgwood. When not in his Suffolk studio Robin Welch spent much time in Australia where he appreciated the outback’s arid earth, brilliant light, grittier textures and luminous colour. Stoneware bowl on a tall foot. Calcium matt glaze, underglaze colour with underglaze metallic lustre. ceramic, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, robin welch, gippsland campus, mungeribar pottery, stadbroke pottery

Robin WELCH ( 23 July 1936-5 December 2019) Born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England Robin Welch is one of the most highly respected contemporary British potters. The full range of his work includes large vessels with related paintings, fine drawings, and distinctive bowls and vases which explore colour, surface texture, form, detail of edge, and line. He is one of small group of significant British potters who expanded the language of throwing pots on the wheel through post-wheel additions and alteration. This gave his generally cylindrical forms a more organic and sculptural aspect, but their heavily coloured and textured surfaces were as much about painting, too, as Robin sought an integration of the visual disciplines he enjoyed. As he once wrote: “There’s no divide between art or craft. You decide to be an artist and you’ll use anything. If marooned on a desert island you’d use driftwood.” (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/27/robin-welch-obituary, accessed 23 March 2021) When not in his Suffolk studio Robin Welch spent much time in Australia where he appreciated the outback’s arid earth and brilliant light, its grittier textures and luminous colour, qualities he sought to convey in-the-round and on canvas. Apart from his studion work Robnin Welch was a skilled designer for industry including Wedgwood, Midwinter and Denby. Initially studying at Penzance School of Art under Michael Leach (son of Bernard Leach) and the Central School of Art, London Robin Welch then worked part-time at the Leach Pottery between 1953 and 1959 before opening his own pottery in London's west end (1960 to 1962). After a couple of years of world travel, including working in Australia from 1962 to1965 helping Ian Sprague set up his Mungeribar Pottery and exhibiting in Melbourne, Robin Welch returned to England setting up Stadbroke Pottery in Eye, Suffolk in 1965.Stoneware bowl with split flange, glazed with matt white, black and a touch of copper red Tobin Welch stamped on basejan feder memorial ceramics collection, ceramics, robin welch, gippsland campus, jan feder