Mike Besser

​Prior to starting potting in recent years, I had acquired over 20 years, a rather large collection of classical chinese ceramics of the pre-Ming era. This was sold at auction when I moved to Poole from London.

As a result of my contact with those wonderful pieces, I have been enormously inspired by their beauty and technical quality. This is especially so for the fine porcelains of the Song and Yuan dynasties of the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. Their classic shapes, grace and balance are imprinted on my mind.

Therefore I only use porcelain. I find it difficult to produce bowls that are not of a Song shape – but the use of the glazes is different! My pieces are beginning to appear in the collections of well known ceramic experts at home and abroad.

On starting I had lessons at West Dean College with Alison Sandiman, Sarah Miller in London and Grazyna Schweidler in Dorset.