Peter Rushforth b. 4 December 1920

  • Artist (Ceramist)
Peter Rushforth's pots are a synthesis of European and Japanese aesthetic influences. He came to an appreciation of the Japanese Mingei (folk) aesthetic in unusual circumstances as a prisoner of war in Singapore during the 1939-45 War. Later he became one of the nation's most influential ceramics teachers.
Tags: Woodfired stoneware, Influence of Japan, Zen, Prisoner of War, Mingei
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Peter Rushforth was born in Manly, NSW in 1920. Fron 1942 to 1945 he spent three years as a prisoner of war in Changi. On his return to Australia he enrolled in the arts course at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and continued his studies at the National Gallery School in Melbourne. In 1951 he relocated to Sydney where initially enrolled in a sculpture course at East Sydney Technicl College, but soon became their first full time teacher in ceramics. The same year he set up a studio at Beecroft in the northern suburbs. He travelled extensively in the UK, Denmark and the USA on a Churchill Fellowship and spent time working in Japan. In 1966, he moved to Church Point, NSW. In 1978, on his retirement, he relocated his studio to Shipley in the Blue Mountains and became a full-time potter. He was a maker of high-fired stoneware vessels in a woodfired kiln with chun, tenmoku, limestone and ash glazes, and wax resist, brush or inlay decoration. In 1985, he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to ceramics and, in that year, the National Gallery of Victoria held a retrospective exhibition of his work, which is marked with an impressed or incised 'PR’.

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Date written:
2013
Last updated:
2013

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References [<ExternalResource: Powerhouse Museum, 'Jar by Peter Rushforth', Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW.>, <ExternalResource: Jackie Menzies (24 April 1976), 'Project 13: The Calligraphic Image'.>, <ExternalResource: Hood, Kenneth, Thompson, Douglas & Garnsey, Wanda (1972). Australian pottery. Macmillan, South Melbourne, Vic>, <ExternalResource: Howlin, Jan (August 2011), 'The whole man – the life and work of Peter Rushforth'. In Journal of Australian Ceramics, 51 (1), 30-40. Reprinted as a web feature article on the Australian Ceramics Association website.>, <ExternalResource: Peter Rushforth (9 May 1963), 'Peter Rushforth interviewed by Hazel de Berg'.>, <ExternalResource: John Freeland. "Peter Rushforth." obituary. Sydney Morning Herald, 11 August 2015, p.35.>, <ExternalResource: Van de Ven, Anne-Marie “Vale Peter Rushforth”>] [<ExternalResource: Powerhouse Museum, 'Jar by Peter Rushforth', Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW.>, <ExternalResource: Jackie Menzies (24 April 1976), 'Project 13: The Calligraphic Image'.>, <ExternalResource: Hood, Kenneth, Thompson, Douglas & Garnsey, Wanda (1972). Australian pottery. Macmillan, South Melbourne, Vic>, <ExternalResource: Howlin, Jan (August 2011), 'The whole man – the life and work of Peter Rushforth'. In Journal of Australian Ceramics, 51 (1), 30-40. Reprinted as a web feature article on the Australian Ceramics Association website.>, <ExternalResource: Peter Rushforth (9 May 1963), 'Peter Rushforth interviewed by Hazel de Berg'.>, <ExternalResource: John Freeland. "Peter Rushforth." obituary. Sydney Morning Herald, 11 August 2015, p.35.>]