'Friends Together'
'Friends Together' - Image 2

‘Friends Together’

£700-900

‘Friends Together’ by Peter Meanley is a group of eight salt-glazed ceramic Wally Birds that explores rhythm through movement, repetition and the energy of companionship.

 

For Meanley, rhythm is found in the subtle shifts of gesture and expression amongst the birds. It exists in the repeated forms of the birds gathered together, but also in the variations between them. A tilt of the head, a widening of the eyes, the suggestion of a wing in motion—each creates its own beat within the group. Together, they form a visual cadence, like friends in conversation: listening, responding, interrupting, observing and sharing moments of delight.

The making of the work is itself rhythmic. Built by hand and transformed through the salt-glaze firing process, each bird carries the traces of repetition, instinct and accumulated experience. Yet there is always surprise. No two are the same, and each firing brings new possibilities.

 

Please note: each bird is sold individually and prices range from £700-£900. Please contact the Gallery for further details.

Contact Gallery
Category:

Artist Bio

Born in 1944 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Peter Meanley is one of Ireland’s most distinguished ceramic artists and an internationally respected authority on salt-glazed ceramics. After studying at the York School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London, he completed a Doctorate in Ceramics at the University of Ulster, where he later served for many years as Reader in Ceramics.

Over a career spanning more than six decades, Meanley has combined studio practice with teaching, research and writing, becoming a leading figure in the revival and development of contemporary salt-glaze ceramics. His work is recognised for its technical mastery, inventive forms and subtle humour, ranging from celebrated teapots and sculptural vessels to portrait commissions and, more recently, his acclaimed Wally Birds series.

His research into salt-glaze kiln construction received a major award from the Arts and Humanities Research Board and influenced practitioners internationally through publication in Ceramics Technical. Meanley has represented both the British Council and Ireland abroad, including presentations in Kazakhstan and as a guest speaker at a four-nation exhibition in Normandy, France.

Meanley’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Ulster Museum, Belfast. Recent exhibitions include New Works (2022), the Irish Craft Heroes exhibition, Ag925 / Au750: Journeys in Silver and Gold (2023), and A Journey at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn (2025).

Peter Meanley’s work is held in major public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Museum of Ireland, Ulster Museum, the British Council, Auckland Museum, the State Collection of Australia, Keramikmuseum Westerwald, and the Princessehof Ceramics Museum, among others. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Irish craft, Design & Crafts Council Ireland named him an Irish Craft Hero in 2022.

Now based in Northern Ireland, Meanley continues to work actively in his studio, exploring the enduring possibilities of salt glaze through new bodies of work that reflect a lifetime of curiosity, innovation and craftsmanship.



Related Products