John Ward was born in Islington, London, in 1938 and became interested in pottery after attending evening classes. He went on to study ceramics at Camberwell School of Art in the late-1960s under Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. He had two workshops in London in the 1970s, before moving to Dyfed, Wales, in 1979. His hand-built coiled stoneware pots use matt glazes and are influenced by both his early mentors as well as ancient pre-glaze pottery from China and Egypt.
His graphically strong black-and-white vessels have proven particularly popular in recent years: the 16in (40cm) Tall Vessel c.1995, pictured right, realised £18,000 in May 2016 at Maak Contemporary Ceramics.