Two Earthenware Jugs, one by Jude Jelfs (1950)

Jude Jelfs (born 1950); 'Jug in Striped Dress 4', a flattened earthenware jug modelled as a female nude, incised signature and title, height 21.5cm, and a similar smaller flattened raku jug probably by a different maker. Sold together.

Jude undertook a foundation course at Somerset College of Art & Design, then gained a Dip. AD at Gloucester College of Art & Design in Fine Art (Sculpture with Painting). At art school, Jude worked mainly in bronze. She married John Jelfs in 1972 and became a potter. Jude and John live and work at the Cotswold Pottery, located in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, UK.

Over time, Jude has found herself moving back to where she started; progressing away from functional wares towards more sculptural ideas and combining pottery with painting and sculpture.

Jude’s current work is all drawing-based with a strong figurative theme. Her work celebrates the human body – mostly, but not exclusively, the female body. Her current pots are flat, slab-built vessels in earthenware or porcelain. Some pieces are made in editions or series, they are almost two-dimensional vessels that are essentially drawings in space. She also makes one-offs and three-dimensional stoneware pieces. Jude plays with ideas of anthropomorphism in pottery forms. Jude has also returned to working in bronze after 30 years.

Jude is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association (CPA) and has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally.