Marianne de Trey

Marianne has probably been the most consistent element in the history of pottery at Shiners Bridge in Dartington.
She was working in her own small studio next the Dartington Pottery when I first arrived in January 1991, in fact she had been working continuously on the site a good forty years before I appeared.
Marianne came to Dartington in 1947. Together with her husband Sam Haile she had been given the opportunity to take over the tenancy of the pottery established by Bernard Leach before the war. Sam was tragically killed in a car accident only a year after their arrival while Marianne was pregnant with their first child, however she bravely continued potting and ran a very successful workshop producing domestic ware. Over the years she trained a number of apprentices and became a central figure in the development of the crafts in the area.
She retired from the main site 1983 when Dartington Pottery took over the premises.
Although since moving to her current premises Marianne has exclusively been producing studio pieces, her greatist achievement is (in my opinion) the domestic ware she produced for so many years while at the main site in Dartington.
Marianne is one of the finest examples of a craft practitioner I can think of, however in contrast to many of her contemporaries she has not received the full recognition I believe she richly deserves.
To this day Marianne is still working most days in her studio next to Dartington Pottery. Amazingly at the age of 91, by her own admission, she is still in search of creating the ultimate pot.

Tavs Jorgensen, Dartington, March 2005

Marianne is currently showing her work at the '7 Decades of Pottery' exhibition at Bristol Guild
The exhibition runs from the 5th to the 16th of April 2005. www.cpaceramics.com

More Information a Mariann De Trey:

Marianne de Trey - 35 Years a Potter, Ceramic Reveiw 83, Sep/Oct 1983
A potter's life - Marianne de Trey looks back on 55 years of potting, Ceramic Reveiw 205, Jan/Feb 2004