GALLERY

Please enjoy this visual summary of the significant periods in Esias Bosch's career. By clicking on any individual image in the galleries below, a lightbox will open up on screen to enjoy the images at a slightly enlarged size with subtitles and descriptions underneath each photo. While inside the lightbox, controls also allow the viewer to scroll through images in that section. To exit a series of images and move on to the next section, click on the 'x'.

A STUDENT IN ENGLAND

Bosch, 28 years old, in Raymond Finch's Winchcombe Pottery.

Esias (28) and Valerie (24) in London on their wedding day, 16 March 1951.

In Raymond Finch's Winchcombe Pottery, 1951.

4 - 4

In the early 1950’s, just out of art school, Esias came to work at Winchcombe. Esias clearly had the makings of a talented potter, and his subsequent career has proved this to the full.

- Raymond Finch

After my apprenticeship in England in my twenties I sailed home dreaming great dreams. In England I had kept my mind open in order to gain knowledge, but being by nature something of a rebel I realised that one could do a lot of things differently, and I could hardly wait to start working on my own.

- Esias Bosch

EARTHENWARE, PRETORIA

At work on earthenware pieces in the Hatfield studio, Pretoria, late 1950's.

Earthenware bowl, blue slip with wax-resist decoration, height 15cm.

Earthenware coffee cups and saucers, blue slip with sgraffito decoration.

Earthenware soup bowl and small casserole, white glaze and copper slip with wax-resist decoration, diameter of bowl 12cm.

Throwing earthenware in Pretoria, late 1950's.

Very large earthenware teapot (holds 80 cups) with semi-matt glaze, height 27cm.

1 - 6

It has always been my opinion that the best of Bosch compares more than favourably with contemporary work elsewhere, surpassing most of it in fact. There is no doubt that Esias well and truly laid the foundation for craft pottery in this country, giving it its original momentum, setting the stage for its coming of age, educating the public and paving the way for many of us to follow.

- Hym Rabinowitz

TO THE LOWVELD – STONEWARE

Early days on Die Randjie, throwing stoneware, 1965.

Large lidded stoneware jar, blue iron glaze, height 60cm.

Large stoneware box with granite glaze and iron decoration, wood fired, diameter 25cm.

Large stoneware vase with iron glaze and lug handles, relief decoration, height 65 cm.

Panel of stoneware relief tiles with green glaze and iron oxide decoration, 1 x 2 m.

Stoneware dish with wood-ash glaze and iron decoration, length 48cm.

Stoneware vase with iron glaze and incised decoration, height 40 cm.

Tall stoneware floor vase with blue iron glaze, height 100cm.

Tall stoneware vase with blue iron glaze and pinched decoration, wood fired, height 56 cm.

8 - 9

That is the essence of his work — art and function in perfect harmony. I have lived with Bosch pieces for a great many years, and they have given me pleasure beyond the speech of it.

- Madeleine van Biljon

PORCELAIN

Large porcelain plate with white glaze and cobalt decoration, diameter 60 cm.

Lidded octagonal porcelain jar and small porcelain bowl with white glaze and cobalt/iron decoration, height of jar 40 cm.

Lidded porcelain bowls with gold lustre over white glaze and cobalt/iron decoration, diameter of largest bowl 9 cm.

Lidded porcelain jar and porcelain pedestal bowl with white glaze and cobalt/iron decoration, height of jar 36 cm, diameter of bowl 20cm.

Lidded porcelain jar with white glaze and cobalt/iron decoration, height 36 cm.

Porcelain pedestal bowl with white glaze and cobalt decoration, diameter 31 cm.

Porcelain pedestal bowl with white glaze and cobalt decoration, diameter 31 cm inside.

Porcelain pedestal bowl with white glaze and cobalt decoration, diameter 39 cm.

7 - 8

Never one to go along with fashion, Esias developed celadons of an ethereal lightness. His lovely whites, embellished with spontaneous brushwork, are very much his own individual style, being neither rustic nor Oriental. The painterly quality of his decoration with its sure, light touch adds freshness and sparkle to his work.

- Thelma Marcuson

LUSTRE WALL PANELS

Lustre decorated tile, 40 x 35 cm.

Lustre tile, 30 x 20 cm.

Lustre tile, 50 x 50 cm.

Lustre wall panel, 1,5 x 1,2 m.

Lustre wall panel, 1,6 x 1,25 m.

Lustre wall panel, 125 x 80 cm.

Lustre panel comprising six tiles, 1 x 1 m

Lustre wall panel, 1,6 x 1,25 m. The last of the lustre tiles.

7 - 10

Bosch’s progression from earthenware to stoneware, then to porcelain, lustre tiles and his latest work, identifies him as an artist rather than a craftsman. Bosch rejoices in the freedom that each development brings him, the creative spirit within him unceasingly searches for new avenues to explore.

- Katinka Kempff

VITRIFIED, LAMINATED WALL PANELS

Decorating a laminated, vitrified tile. In the background a top-loading kiln designed by Bosch for the large panels.

Vitrified, laminated panel 1,25 x 1,25 m.

Vitrified, laminated panel 2,5 x 2,25m.

Esias and Valerie in the courtyard of the residence on Die Randjie, 1988.

This photo, taken in 1988, shows a view of the Bosch residence, designed by celebrated South African architect Norman Eaton and built by Bosch in the early 1960's.

10 - 10

Bosch is an artist of enormous integrity, and one whose work is never pretentious.

- Murray Schoonraad

PAINTINGS

Oil, 100 x 80 cm

Oil, 1,5 x 1,1 m

Oil, 1,3 x 1 m

Oil, 1,25 x 1m

Oil, 2,5 x 1,25 m.

Oil, 1,25 x 1m.

Oil, 1, 25 x 1 m.

Oil, 1,5 x 1,1 m.

Oil, 1,25 x 1m.

12 - 12

Bosch stayed true to his dictum that an artist’s work should not remain static, for as soon as a certain proficiency is achieved, the danger exists that the work becomes repetitive instead of creative; it becomes superficial and lifeless.

- Ronnie Watt

DRAWINGS

Ink on gesso, 1, 9 x 1 m.

Ink on gesso, 1,35 x 1,35 m.

Ink on gesso, 3,65 x 1,8 m.

Ink on gesso, 3,65 x 2,3 m.

Ink on gesso, 100 x 90 cm.

Ink on paper, 70 x 80 cm.

6 - 6

Near White River a bumpy road takes you to a place called Die Randjie. This is where master potter Esias Bosch lives and works on a granite outcrop with kiaat trees. You see at a glance that Die Randjie is, as the man behind it, hand-made. One of a kind.

- Jacqueline Leuvennink

White River, South Africa | +27 (83) 400-7062‬

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COPYRIGHT | In terms of South Africa’s Copyright Act, No. 98 of 1978, no reproduction of Esias Bosch artwork is allowed without permission from the copyright holders. Any person who reproduces this reproduction or any other Esias Bosch artwork in any form, without the permission of the copyright holders, will be deemed to have infringed the copyright and will be liable for a damages claim at the instance of the copyright holders.