William Staite Murray

He worked with Cuthbert Hamilton, a member of the Vorticist group,[1] at the Yeoman Pottery in Kensington before joining the army in 1915.

[2] In 1919, after his military service, he set up his own pottery in Rotherhithe, London in the premises of his brother's engineering and foundry works.

Murray's aim was to raise the profile and reputation of pottery to a level where it would be regarded as equal to painting and sculpture.

[6] He was made instructor in pottery at the Royal College of Art in London in 1926[7] and became an influential teacher in the 1930s, his pupils including Henry Hammond, Sam Haile,[2] Robert J Washington,[8] and Emma Smith Gillies.

He gave up making pottery and died twenty years later although he had a final exhibition in London towards the end of his life.