A tribute to studio potter Phil Rogers and his life-affirming vessels

6 January 2021

Gallerist Mike Goldmark remembers a man with few equals

6 January 2021

Phil Rogers. Photo: Jay Goldmark

I owe Phil Rogers (1951-2020) more than he, perhaps, ever knew. A great pot carries with it great power and, as a maker of those exquisite Japanese cups, guinomi and yunomi, Rogers, who passed away in December, had few equals in the western world.

Twenty years ago I lay in intensive care, tethered, triangulated, fearful and hopeless after a major heart attack. At my bedside my wife, Fiona, opened her handbag and produced my favourite yunomi by Phil Rogers. She emptied the drink from the NHS plastic beaker into the yunomi, which she then placed in my hands. As I put that cup to my lips, I felt my sense of self returning. I remembered what it was to be alive.

Stoneware pots with hakeme brushwork and wood ash glazes by Phil Rogers. Photo: Jay Goldmark

Phil Rogers was born in Newport in 1951. He attended Newport and Swansea Colleges of Art and had originally intended to become a painter. Pottery was a compulsory element of the multi-disciplinary course, however, so Phil and a friend taught themselves to throw by challenging each other to see who could throw the biggest pot. Phil became a teacher in 1973 and was inspired by visits to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, where he first came across early Korean pots. He also soon discovered Bernard Leach, Richard Batterham, Walter Keeler and Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie.

Phil’s drive, passion and commitment were qualities which would have made him successful at almost whatever path he chose in life. Fresh challenges did not unnerve him, although I think that perhaps one of the few careers in which Phil would not have excelled would have been as a member of The Diplomatic Corps. Phil was not one to suffer fools gladly and his integrity demanded that he said exactly what he felt irrespective of the consequences.

Ash glazed jar with strap decoration by Phil Rogers. Photo: Jay Goldmark
Jug with tenmoku glaze by Phil Rogers. Photo: Jay Goldmark

He became disillusioned by the office politics of teaching and in 1977 he moved to the family’s ancestral home in Rhayader, Powys, to become a full-time potter. In 1984, in need of bigger premises, he moved to Cefnfaes Farm where he created pottery firmly rooted in the Anglo-Oriental tradition pioneered by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada.

I first met Phil when Fiona and I visited him some 25 years ago to tell him of my plans for selling pots in Goldmark, my art gallery in Uppingham. Phil listened patiently and told me he would help in any way he could. And he did: Goldmark’s inaugural ceramics’ exhibition, in 2005, featured 200 of Phil Rogers’ wonderful pots – bottles, jugs, jars and bowls, each with an unforced individual spirit. There followed four more exhibitions over the years, culminating in a show in May 2020 when we sold 440 pots despite the gallery being in lockdown – a triumphant last hurrah for one of the giants of UK ceramics.

Potter Phil Rogers throwing on the wheel. Photo: Jay Goldmark

Phil acted as guide and mentor to many aspiring potters over the years. By his late forties he had gained a global reputation as both a maker and an educator, and he had pieces in the permanent collectors of museums including the V&A Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Ceramics in Mashiko. He worked tirelessly, both on a personal level and through the craft trusts he chaired and served to promote ceramics and craft skills. He exhibited, lectured and mentored from Korea to the USA and was always an impeccable advocate of both his craft and his country.

The last time I spoke with Phil he was calm and philosophical about his terminal illness. Not for him his fellow countryman’s invocation, ‘to rage against the dying of the light’. What I heard was the courage and strength that defined his life.

We will miss Phil, but we won’t forget him. He helped, guided and inspired those who knew him, and his books such as Ash Glazes, Throwing Pots, Salt Glazing, and A Portfolio leave a lasting legacy. But Phil’s greatest gift to all of us are his pots – thousands and thousands of pots spread around the globe – practical objects of beauty and contemplation enhancing our lives. Yes, my friend, you live on.

Goldmark will mount a Phil Rogers memorial exhibition later in 2021 (dates TBC)

A tribute to studio potter Phil Rogers and his life-affirming vessels

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