Jessamine KENDALL neé Leach (1920-2014) Lapis and ancient Ca...

Hammer

£180

Jessamine KENDALL neé Leach (1920-2014) Lapis and ancient Carnelian necklace Silver, stamped, length 44.5cm. Jessamine had been inspired as a child by watching her father Bernard Leach unpick the glass beads of an old lace bobbin, to re-make it into a necklace for her sister Eleanor. Later on when visiting Patrick Heron and his family, she had been fascinated by seeing Susanna Heron’s jewellery, as well as by visits to the V&A and the British Museum. She loved ancient beads and collected coral, amber, cornelian and lapis lazuli amongst other things. She began working from home, putting the beads she had collected together with her own silver beads to create necklaces and earrings. She had her first exhibition at the newly opened Casson Gallery in London, which opened in May 1974. This was followed by showing her work in the annual ‘Loot’ exhibitions at Goldsmiths’ Hall and taking part in selling exhibitions in galleries around the country. Whilst developing her creative practice, she formed a new relationship with Dicon Nance, an exceptional craftsman who had been an important assistant at the Leach pottery and to Barbara Hepworth. Together, they moved to an old Devon longhouse on Dartmoor, where Dicon provided invaluable practical solutions to many technical problems encountered by Jassamine in her jewellery making as well as helping her to create a beautiful garden from a farmer’s hillside field. She went on to become a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and exhibited her work there as well as at other galleries. Excerpts from ‘The Hidden Twin Daughters’ by David Kendall. Leach Pottery website Purchased from the Devon Guild, 1995 Over the last 40 years, Ian & Ann Head have gathered an outstanding collection of about 1000 paintings, prints, pieces of jewellery and studio pottery, buying predominately from galleries across the UK, including Beaux-Arts and The Candover Gallery. It has been a pleasure to meet Ian & Ann and learn about their artistic passions and the arc of their collecting process. In this sale we have some particularly glorious works by Mary Fedden, Breon O’Casey and Bryan Pearce, alongside other paintings from their collection, also beautiful jewellery by Jessamine Kendall who was the daughter of Bernard Leach.We are delighted to be offering an impressive selection of Ian and Ann’s studio pottery including John Maltby, Jim Malone, Janet Leach, Bill Marshall and many more in our inaugural Studio Pottery sale on the 5th of September.