Judy Trim (1943-2001) was a gifted hand-builder who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Based in London for most of her life, she had studied at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, and became known for her elegant and elemental vessel forms which treated coiled earthenware with a deserved simplicity, in contrast to some of the more convoluted shapes that appeared then and since.

Her lustre decorated pieces were organic, quietly spreading from their bases; "Judy Trim vessels were constructed in a slow and controlled fashion, building from coils of clay into shapes that appeared to float or be air borne". Her repertoire of smoke-fired bowls, jars and tall bottles were a sensitive and understated response to ethnographic pottery and other influences, but refined and concentrated by a 20th century sensibility, one that was cut tragically short, but which now deserves reappraisal.

David Whiting