Great Pottery Throwdown 2026.
The Great Pottery Throwdown is a popular programme made by Love Productions, who also make The Great British Bake Off. My animal sculptures have featured on three previous programmes to illustrate the art and craft of animal sculpture and Raku firing. This time round they invited me on as guest judge.
They sent a crew to film me working in my studio. I was right in the middle of sculpting the life-size leopard up a tree, so the studio provided a suitably dramatic backdrop. The leopard is at the foundry right now for casting in bronze. For the main programme, filming took place in the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke. This labyrinthine building, steeped in history, hosts the large Great Pottery Throwdown production team every year. It bustles with energy, activity and excitement. It was a pleasure meeting all those involved. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly, just as I had hoped.
I was invited to challenge the pottery contestants to sculpt a rhino. I actually worked with rhinos one summer at Chester Zoo while I was an art student. This experience shaped my life and made me realise and appreciate that all animals are individuals with their own character and story. I’ve worked hard to capture this individual character in my sculpture ever since. I always feel this is the thing that really sets my work apart. I brought my Javan rhino sculpture (pictured below) with me on set. I was keen to see how the contestants would cope with my challenge.
But this would not the more familiar black or white rhino. It would be the extremely rare Javan rhino. Only some 60 animals remain in the wild. Now I’m used to sculpting rare and unusual beasts. But this would be a challenge, even for me. There are no captive Javans anywhere in the world, and only a very limited number of photographs from the wild tropical forests where the animals live. The Javan rhino is superficially similar to the Indian rhino, but there are subtle differences that distinguish them. It was important to me to get these details right, particularly if I was going to be featured with my Javan rhino sculpture on national TV.
After being introduced and giving a short technical demonstration, I briefed the contestants. I told them I would be looking for character, narrative, texture and movement. They wouldn’t be starting from scratch, as they would have only 45 minutes to bring their animal sculptures to life. I had prepared various body parts to get them started: a body and four legs. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was impressed with what they achieved in such a short time. As I stepped back in front of the cameras, I set about ranking them from 9th to 1st place, while giving my expert feedback. I wish all the potters the very best for the competition and wherever it may take them. It really was a very fun and exciting project.
My Javan rhino sculpture, pictured below, took rather longer to complete - an entire week of meticulous work - and is available to buy now.
