Hughan, Harold Randolph (1893–1987)
Harold Randolph (“Buzz”) Hughan (1893-1987), potter and ceramicist, born 11th July 1893 at Mildura, Victoria, was the second of ten children of Randolph Hughan, curator of Hamilton Botanic Gardens, of Scottish heritage, and his English-born wife Emily, née Clayton. Harold grew up in Hamilton, Victoria. After leaving school in 1906 he completed an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. In 1910 he moved to Geelong and retrained as an electrical engineer. In October 1915 Hughan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He served on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918 with the 3rd Divisional Signal Company and the 44th Battalion. During this period he spent some time in Paris. He was commissioned in November 1917 and promoted to lieutenant in March 1918. On 2 September 1919 he married Lily Booth. They arrived in Melbourne in February 1920. He became a major in the Volunteer Defence Corps during World War II. Hughan moved to Melbourne and joined the firm of Oliver J. Nilsen, where he worked as an electrical engineer until retirement in 1963. Long interested in weaving and woodwork, he was introduced to pottery in the early 1940s by his wife and son, Robert (who subsequently worked in materials science at CSIRO, Belmont, Geelong), who had taken it up as a hobby. Bernard Leach’s “A Potter’s Book” (1940) attracted him to studio pottery in the Anglo-Japanese tradition. From C. F. Binns’s “The Potter’s Craft” (1910) he learnt to “throw” pots.
In 1941 he devised and constructed a wheel from the crankshaft of a motorcar engine (the first Leach style potter’s wheel in Australia), now in the Powerhouse Museum collection in Sydney. He built his own kiln and crafted stoneware in a workshop behind his home in Glen Iris (hence his potter’s mark incorporates the letters “G” and “I”, inside his initial “H”).
He greatly admired the pottery of the Song and T’ang Dynasties, but his interests embraced many aspects of historic and contemporary practice. Seeking an `Australian idiom’, he experimented with new forms. It was important to him that his creations were functional and affordable; yet they were distinguished by subtle shapes and beautiful glazes, particularly the Orient-inspired celadons and tenmokus. He acquired a devoted following, especially for his large platters, decorated with oriental motifs, native iris or sprays of bamboo. He continued to work well into his nineties. `I do not make pottery for a living’, he said in 1984, `it [is] purely for pleasure, and always has been’.
After an exhibition of Hughan’s work at Georges Gallery, Melbourne, in 1950, he became one of the first contemporary studio potters to be represented in the National Gallery of Victoria. Later exhibitions included major retrospectives at the NGV (1969, 1983). His work has been collected by the National Gallery of Australia, several Australian State and regional galleries, and by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He was a member of the Arts and Crafts Society of Victoria from 1949 and was invited, in 1970, to be the patron of the Victorian Ceramic Group, which established an award in his name. In 1978 he was appointed MBE, for services to pottery.
Known to close friends and family as `Buzz’, he was described by Kenneth Hood, a champion of his work, as being,`reserved and unassuming’. He was predeceased by his wife (1966), and survived by his son, Robert. He died at Prahran, Melbourne, on 23 October 1987, and was buried in Springvale cemetery.
References: Based on the entry in the National Dictionary of Biography (2007), by Terence Lane. Additional information added by Ross Barnard (grand nephew of Harold Hughan), from AIF military records, museum of applied arts and sciences collection data, and family history records.
- Writers:
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- Date written:
- 2019
- Last updated:
- 2019
