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BERNARD LEACH C.H., C.B.E.
1887—1979
My first breath of air was a cry ofpain; Will my last be a smile? Bernard Leach
6 May 1979. He was sitting by the window in his hospital room talking with his daughter Eleanor, a friend and two nurses, about where they were born. It was Bernard’s turn to contribute: ‘I was born in Hong Kong’—[on 5 January 1887]—but the words wouldn’t come. He put his hand to his Chest, drew his last breath and was gone.
I have made death a messenger of joy . . . How these much—quoted words of Bahá’u’lláh applied to Bernard Leach himself. He had done in his earthly life what he had to do and died happily in that knowledge. Now it is up to us to use what he has left.
Bernard Leach was the son of a colonial judge. His mother died when he was born and the first four years of his life were spent with grandparents in Japan.
As a potter, artist and writer he is internationally known. The importance of his work was his liaison between East and West—he connected artistically, culturally and spiritually. He wrote: ‘As far back as 1913 it began to become apparent how that which we call fate lay ‘behind my original intuition to return to the East where I was born. My own work as a potter and draughtsman was inextricably becoming rooted in two hemispheres and I began to find myself in the position of a courier between East and West. By one way or another I bore witness to a growing vision
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Bernard Leach
of a future unity of mankind. Agnosticism of many years’ standing gave way to an expanding faith in the maturity of man on this planet . . .’1
It was in 1914 that he first heard about the Bahá’í Faith, from Agnes Alexander2 in Japan. The seeds were sown. That same year in a privately published small book, A Review, he wrote: ‘I have seen a vision of the marriage of East and West, and far off down the Halls of Time I heard the echo of a child-like Voice. How long, how long? . . . The books which remain to be written, first and foremost, and greatest, The Bible of East and West . . . a love-union of the two hemispheres; a mystic ring on the finger of the world.’
From 1909 until 1920 he lived in J apan and the Far East, making many friends, and becoming known not only as a gifted artistcraftsman but for his spiritual perception of Japanese values. ‘He went many times to Japan and, in 1966, for his cultural'service to that country he received the highest honour
1 From Drawings, Verse and Belief, Adams and Dart, Bath, Somerset. Now Jupiter Books (London) Ltd. 2 See ‘In Memoriam’, The Bahá’í World, vol. XV, p. 423.
THE Bahá’í WORLD
to be conferred upon a British commoner by the Japanese government: The Order of the Sacred Treasure, second class.
It was Mark Tobey,3 with whom he made friends in the early thirties when at Dartington Hall in Devonshire, who deepened his interest in the Bahá’í Faith. Mark was resident art teacher; Bernard taught pottery, as well as keeping in touch with the St. Ives Pottery. Reg Turvey,4 Bernard’s friend from the early years they spent together at the Slade School and the London College of Art, also came to Dartington to paint, bringing his family. He and his wife went to Bahá’í gatherings and accepted the Faith. before Bernard did. It was after Mark returned to America and Bernard delved more deeply into the books he left him, that he became convinced.
As they had hoped to do, these three Bahá’í artists met again at the Bahá’í World Congress in 1963 in London. Reg, who had been referred to by the Guardian as ‘the father of the Bahá’ís of South Africa’, died in Durban in 1968. Before Mark passed away in Basle, Switzerland, in April 1976, he was so happy to receive a cable from Bernard, MARK I AM WITH you IN SPIRIT NOW AND FOREVER. I remember hearing Bernard shouting, during the last stages of his earthly life, ‘Reg, it won’t be long!’ Now the three are reunited.
When Bernard travelled to Japan after becoming a Bahá’í he fitted in Bahá’í talks with his work as a potter. He spoke fluent J apanese and became much loved by the people of that country. In 1953 his pamphlet My Religious Faith was printed both in English and Japanese, on Japanese paper, and reached many people. Prior to Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih @énum’s Visit to J apan in 1978 he wrote introducing her to some of his acquaintances there, including Princess Chichibu, who afterwards wrote to Bernard to say how much she had enjoyed her visit. Towards the end of her nine-week travels around Japan, Rúḥíyyih 195mm wrote to Bernard: ‘wherever anyone knows our contact with you, we are received with special honours . . .‘
When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip travelled to Japan in 1975 they
3 See ‘In Memoriam', The Bahá’í World, vol. XVI], p. 401.
4 Reginald Turvey, ‘In Memoriam’, The Bahá’í World, vol. XIV, p. 385.
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IN MEMORIAM
took with them, as gifts for the Emperor and Empress, a pilgrim plate made by Bernard and an etching he did in Japan in 1918. Previous to that, in 1973, in a private audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, he became the first craftsman ever to be made a Companion of Honour; he had been made a C.B.E.l in 1962 and over the years received many professional awards. The recent book The Art of Bernard Leach2 was a tribute by the Victoria and Albert Museum following his retrospective exhibition there in 1977. The editor. who was the exhibition organizer, ends his foreword by referring to Bernard as ‘the greatest artist-potter-writer of this age’. A book review of Bernard’s Beyond East and West3 goes further ‘. . . perhaps one of the greatest men of our time’.
But Bernard never wanted to be put on a pedestal; his humility was one of his most endearing qualities. ‘When you’re young it’s difficult to get rid of the ego—it wants to see the shine and the colour of butterfly wings,’ he said in an interview.4 ‘But as you get older you are gradually freed of pride.’ The blindness which in the latter years of his life prevented his continuing his gifted work as a craftsman and artist he accepted as the will of God: ‘Losing outer sight, I gained far greater inner vision.’
Bernard Leach’s books, particularly Drawings, Verse and Belief and Beyond East and West, have been instrumental in attracting many people to the Bahá’í Faith. Press reviews of the latter in various countries. as well as articles—even as far away as Australia —have mentioned his Bahá’í belief.
Bernard welcomed Visitors from all over the world and received letters of appreciation from them as well as from readers of his books, the last from a potter in the United States a few days before Bernard died, from which I quote: ‘I wanted to write to tell you what a great deal you have taught me—not only about pots but about life. I hope some day to be able to teach just one small thing to another, to show one person something new. With your guidance, perhaps I shall . . .’
' Commander (of the Order) of the British Empire.
3 Edited by Carol Hogben: Faber and Faber Ltd.. Publishcrs.
3 Faber and Faber Ltd., Publishers. See The Bahd'z‘ World, vol. XVI, p. 646.
4 Monterey Peninsula Herald, 7 January 1979.
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On receiving the news of his passing, the Universal House of Justice cabled on 7 May 1979:
KINDLY EXTEND LOVING SYMPATHY RELATIVES FRIENDS PASSING DISTINGUISHED VETERAN UPHOLDER FAITH BAHAULLAH BERNARD LEACH. HONOURS CONFERRED UPON HIM RECOGNITION HIS WORLDWIDE FAME CRAFTSMAN POTTER PROMOTER CONCORD EAST AND WEST ADD LUSTRE ANNALS BRITISH BAHAI HISTORY AND HIS EAGER WILLINGNESS USE HIS RENOWN FOR SERVICE FAITH EARN ETERNAL GRATITUDE FELLOW BELIEVERS. ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS SOUL.
TRUDI SCOTT
