Donald Steele Potter | |
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Born | Newington, Swale, Kent, England | 21 April 1902
Died | 7 June 2004 102) | (aged
Education | Studied under Eric Gill |
Known for | Sculpture, pottery |
Notable work | Statue of Robert Baden-Powell, London (1960–61) |
Spouse | Mary Potter |
Patron(s) | Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell; Bryanston School |
Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher. [1] [2] [3]
Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. [4] He joined the Wolf Cubs at the age of eight and became a keen participant in the scouting movement.
Potter developed as a woodcarver, producing totem poles, gates and gateways. By the time Potter reached the age of twenty, the head of the Scouts, Baden-Powell himself, realized he was an expert craftsman. Potter camped at Baden-Powell's house at Pax Hill near Bentley, Hampshire and undertook carving commissions for him. He used very old local fallen oaks, said to be 1,200 years old. For the 1929 World Jamboree, Potter designed totem poles for the British Dominions of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and New Zealand. A granite statue of Baden-Powell by Potter in 1960 is now located in front of Baden-Powell House in London. [5]
As well as wood carving, Potter started to work in stone as well and met Jacob Epstein (who had studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris). In 1931, he approached Eric Gill and asked to study under him. Gill was an engraver, designer of typefaces and sculptor, with carvings in Westminster Cathedral. Initially, Potter was on a six-month trial, but he remained as Gill's pupil for six years. He worked with Gill on sculptures at the Midland Hotel, Morecambe. While with Gill, he undertook wood carving, including the panels for the doors for the Rare Books Room of 1934 [6] [7] in the Radcliffe Science Library (University of Oxford), [8] the crucifixion for the altar of the St Peter the Apostle church (Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk), and a crucifix in the woods at Pigotts where Gill was based near High Wycombe. [3]
In addition to being a sculptor, Potter spent his later career as a teacher at Bryanston School in Dorset (1940–1984), responsible for both sculpture and pottery. [9] Prior to taking up this appointment he had never sone any pottery and took lessons from Amy Krauss at Corfe Castle and then Winchcombe Pottery where Ray Finch and Michael Cardew were working. [10] During World War II, Sir Terence Conran was inspired by him as one of his pupils. Potter continued to undertake commissions during his time as a teacher, including some for the School. For instance, examples of stone carvings undertaken by him in 1991 can be seen at a local church in the village of Durweston.
The porch of Our Lady of Grace and St Teresa of Avila RC Church in Chingford has oak panels depicting animals and fish that Potter carved in 1956. [11] [12] A major work was the granite statue of Robert Baden-Powell (1960–61), located outside Baden-Powell House in Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London. [13]
The Don Potter Art School at Bryanston School, opened during October 1997 in his presence, is named after him. [14]
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the world-wide Scout Movement, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of the world-wide Girl Guide/Girl Scout Movement. Baden-Powell wrote the seminal work Scouting for Boys, which, with his previous 1899 book Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men captured the imagination of the boys of Britain and led to the creation of the Scout Movement.
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsman of the twentieth century: a letter-cutter and type designer of genius", he is also a figure of considerable controversy following the revelations of his sexual abuse of two of his daughters and of his pet dog.
The Radcliffe Camera is a building of the University of Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in a Baroque style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcliffe Science Library. It is sited to the south of the Old Bodleian, north of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, and between Brasenose College to the west and All Souls College to the east. The Radcliffe Camera's circularity, its position in the heart of Oxford, and its separation from other buildings make it the focal point of the University of Oxford, and as such it is almost always included in shorthand visual representations of the university. The Radcliffe Camera is not open to the public.
The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck.
Blandford Forum is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, 13 miles (21 km) north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the 2021 census.
Gilwell Park is The Scout Association's principal camp site and activity centre in the United Kingdom. It is a 109-acre (44 ha) site, located in East London in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey within Epping Forest near the border with Chingford. It is used by Scout and Guide groups. Adult Scout leader training undertaken at Gilwell Park since 1919 is known as Wood Badge training. Scout leaders from many countries have trained at Gilwell Park and Wood Badge training was followed by some other Scout organisations, and, therefore, Gilwell Park has taken on importance to other Scout organisations.
Durweston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles northwest of the town of Blandford Forum. It is sited by the River Stour at the point where it flows out of the Blackmore Vale through a steep, narrow gap between the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 398.
Bryanston School is a public school located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. It occupies a palatial country house designed and built in 1889–94 by Richard Norman Shaw for Viscount Portman, the owner of large tracts in the West End of London, in the early version of neo-Georgian style that Sir Edwin Lutyens called "Wrenaissance", to replace an earlier house, and is set in 400 acres (1.6 km2).
The Order of World Scouts (OWS), founded in 1911, is the oldest international Scout organisation. It is headquartered in England and has an administration headquarters in Italy.
Pax Hill, near Bentley, Hampshire, England, was the family home of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement, and his wife, Olave, for over twenty years during the 20th century. It is located at the end of a half-mile drive, off the main A31 road. Pax Hill is a red-bricked house fronting south with higher ground behind.
The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to receive a copy of all British scientific publications.
Queen's Gate House, still commonly known by its previous name of Baden-Powell House, is a conference centre in South Kensington, London. It was built as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, and has served as the headquarters for The Scout Association, as a hostel providing modern and affordable lodging for Scouts, Guides, their families and the general public staying in London and as a conference and event venue.
Brownsea Island Scout camp, is a historic Scout campsite on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour in southern England, which was the site of Robert Baden-Powell's 1907 experimental camp for boys to test ideas for his book Scouting for Boys, which led to the rapid growth of the Scout movement. Boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism.
The British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association is an early scouting organisation, having begun as the Battersea Boy Scouts in 1908. The organisation was renamed as the British Boy Scouts and launched as a national organisation on 24 May 1909. In association with other Scout organisations, the BBS formed the National Peace Scouts in 1910. The BBS instigated the first international Scouting organisation, the Order of World Scouts in 1911.
Gilbert Ledward, was an English sculptor.
A statue of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting, is installed on the Quay in Poole harbour, Dorset on the south coast of England. The statue, erected in 2008, is a life-size bronze of Robert Baden-Powell by sculptor David Annand. It portrays Baden-Powell in his scout uniform, seated on a log as if for a campfire, with a pair of log seats either side which "allow easy access for photo opportunities".
The Statue of Robert Baden-Powell is a granite carving of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, at Baden-Powell House in Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, England. The statue was created by the English sculptor Don Potter in 1960 and was installed and unveiled in 1961. It now stands in Gilwell Park, the home of Scouting, following the sale of Baden-Powell House in 2021.
Richard Hugh Neville Batterham was a British potter.