Leach was born in the late nineteenth century in Hong Kong, and spent his young adult years in Japan.
Sadly, with the rise of industrialism, pottery as a traditional craft began to rapidly disappear, particularly in industrialized nations. By the beginning of the twentieth century, most of the relatively few village craftsman potters who remained were living in China, Japan and various Third World countries. In the early twentieth century, a young Englishman named Bernard Leach began to train under a Japanese master potter. Leach was born in the late nineteenth century in Hong Kong, and spent his young adult years in Japan. After training for many years, he and a young Japanese friend named Shoji Hamada set up a pottery shop in England, where Leach Pottery still exists today. Leach revived the craft of pottery as an art form in England. He also came to the United States and started teaching classes here, as well. In 1935, he taught a class at the Archie Bray Foundation, where he deeply impacted several up-and-coming American potters, such as Warren MacKenzie and Val Cushing. Leach’s influence helped change the course of pottery in America, reviving the art and craft of making and firing earthen vessels.