Koala vase

The large earthenware pot features a decoration of koalas sitting in gumtrees in the round. The scale and motifs are typical of Castle Harris’s work.

A cousin of artist Una Deerbon (1882-1972), John Castle-Harris (1893-1967) known professionally as Castle Harris was an Australian potter who was active in the first half of the twentieth century. Born in North Waratah, Sydney in 1893 he worked as a farmer, later enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces in 1916. Wounded in action in 1917 he was discharged and invalided to England and later returned to Sydney to live in Coogee.

In 1923 he married Alice Cayley a painter, and sister of the artist Neville Cayley. Around the same time, he began embossed leather table covers with Australian floral designs. In the 1930s Castle Harris learn ceramics through Una Deerbon’s school in Melbourne later working for the Deerbon Pottery School. Like Deerbon, Castle Harris sold his own ceramics designs through gift stores and other retail outlets, largely on the east coast of Australia. He also worked for a time at Premier Pottery, Preston. His work is often heavy and large, something he was able to achieve at the potter’s wheel as a tall strong man. Often featuring heavy applied decoration, he often employed naturalistic motifs both Australian and drawn from East Asian art and design.