Collections

Potter attended the London County Council's Central School of Arts and Crafts with particular emphasis on stained-glass design. He befriended his teacher there, Karl Parsons (1884-1934) becoming his asssitant from c.1925-31. He may also have worked briefly with Parsons' own teacher Cristopher Whall (1849-1924) "the most significant exponent of stained glass within the Arts & Crafts Movement in Britain." Parsons took over the teaching of stained glass from Whall at the Royal Academy and from 1908 at the Central School. Between c.1925-31 Potter was associated with most of Parsons' stained glass designs including his masterpiece, the 5-light East Window in the Church of All Saints, Porthcawl, Bridgend, Wales. During this time he also became freindly, through Parsons, with the Irish illustrator and stained glass artist Harry Clarke (1889-1931), serving as his assistant 1927-28. Potter designe dthe staine dglass window which his family erected in memory of his younger brother Horace who died aged 16. The woindow, depicting scenes from the life of St.Roch, was installed in the chapel of the Infirmary of the St.Marleybone Workhouse in London. Renamed St.Charles' Hospital in 1929, the window has (at least since 2012) been re-installed on an interior wall of the former Mortuary chapel in the hospital. Only one known commissioned window by Potter survives, erected to the memory of Mary, wife of the Vicar Alexander Boddy. It is signed and dated Leonard Potter london 1929. and is a double lancet in the All Saints Church at Monkwearmouth, Sunderland. It takes the scene depicted in Luke 10:38-42 as its inspiration (Christ teaching and Mary the sister of Martha). When Parsons move dhis studio and workshopto a converted barn at Shalbourne in Wiltshir ein 1930 Potter moved with him but remaine donly about a year. back in London Potter married and began his family. His eldest child, David Potter, was born in 1933 and one week later Potter commenced a 3-month probationary period which developed into a 26-year career as Artist and Designer in the Publicity Department of the BBC in London. It was during this latter part of his life that Potter took up painting in oils and watercolour, designed and made silver jewelry and marionettes and took up linocut printing. In this latter capacity he became a member of the Society of British Lino-Cutters and took part in at least the 6th (1935 - where he showed "Conway Castle" for an impression of which vide RSA 2015.056), 7th and 8th Annual Exhibitions of British Linocuts, organised by Claude Flight at the Ward Gallery, Baker Street, London. In 1937 his linocut "Man into Puppet" (for impression vide RSA 2015.058) was exhibited in the 8th Annual Exhibition alongside "Fog Phantasies." (vide RSA 2015.057 for an impression). The puppet print attracted much interest with the V& A Museum, Circulation Department purchasing a copy (it also acquired a copy of "Occasional Showers" from the 1936 exhibition (for an impression vide RSA 2015.059)) and came to the attention of the RSA whose President and Council wrote to Potter in Novmeber 1937 on the strength of the work and invited him to exhibit it at the 1938 RSA Annual Exhibition, which he did (cat 797. £2.12/6d/ approx. £2.63). (from notes compiled by Potter's son-in-law Michael Pope (Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Georgetown University, Washington DC) with additional material supplied by the artist's son, David Potter in correspondence with Sandy Wood, RSA Collections Curator, 2015).