John Jelfs large jug, 3lt

John Jelfs’s marvellous collection of domestic stoneware, new this year to David Mellor, is handmade at the pottery in Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds, founded in 1973 by Jelfs and his wife Jude. This is a great addition to our range of English crafts.

Jelfs has been influenced by Leach, Shōji Hamada and the Eastern school of potters. ‘The strength of their pots lies in their quietness’, he says.

His own hand thrown stoneware with its mainly local wood ash and clay glazes has a similar understated beauty.