John Ward (b.1938) has a longstanding reputation as one of Britain's foremost potters, and yet very little has been written about his manifold achievements. Authoritative and enlightening, this will be the first account of Ward's life and work, tracing the evolution of his ideas and his practice as a potter and placing them critically within the history of British Studio Pottery.

The qualities of Ward's best pots are hard to define. As the late Emmanuel Cooper noted as long ago as 1996: "...the apparently contrasting qualities of drama and quiet reflection, is one of the most engaging aspects of his work. This sense of balance, of the tension between pushing and pulling, light and shade, movement and rest, makes Ward's work distinctive, distinguished and intriguing." Setting out to explore and define those distinctions - expressing what makes Ward's pots compelling and historically significant - the potter's important artistic contribution will finally be expressed.