About the maker
Jane Hamlyn (b. 1940) is an English studio potter best known for her functional salt‑glazed stoneware and her role in the revival of salt‑glaze pottery in Britain. She was born in Whitechapel, London, and originally trained as a nurse at University College Hospital before pursuing ceramics, studying part‑time at Putney Adult Education Centre and then at Harrow School of Art from 1972 to 1974 under tutors including Michael Casson.
In 1975 Hamlyn set up Millfield Pottery Workshop near Doncaster in Yorkshire and has worked full‑time as a potter ever since, developing a distinctive body of work that includes domestic tableware and expressive stoneware vessels. She is credited with discovering the green colour that arises when painting a titanium wash over a blue slip, and during the 1980s and 1990s she developed imaginative tableware and salt‑glazed ceramics with rich blues, mossy greens and orange‑peel textures.
Alongside her studio practice, Hamlyn has been an influential lecturer and demonstrator in the UK and internationally and served as a Fellow and former chair of the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain. Her work is held in major public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Crafts Council Permanent Collection and the William Alfred Ismay ceramics collection at York Art Gallery.
Hamlyn was awarded the European Saltglaze Prize in 1999 and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to pottery and ceramics.