GABRIELE KOCH (born 1948)

Solo exhibitions

1995 Alpha House Gallery, Sherborne, Dorset
1994 Gallery L. Hamburg, Germany
1993 Alpha House gallery, Sherbourne, Dorset
1992 Craft Showcase, Aberdeen Art Gallery.
1991 The New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham.
The Craft Centre & Design Gallery, London
1990 Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
Hannah Peschar Gallery, Ockley, Surrey
1989 Sheila Harrison at Gillian Jason Gallery, London
1987 Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath
1986 The Crafts Centre & Design Gallery, Leeds
1984 Oliver & Pink, London


Born in Lorach in Southern Germany, Gabrielle Koch makes handbuilt, burnished and smoke-fired vessels. She took a degree in history and political science at University of Heidelberg (1967-73) and during that time travelled to Spain where she became inspired by the pots she saw there.

Koch settled in England after 1974 and taught German in a South London comprehensive school. Meanwhile, she undertook the study of ceramics first at Camden Institute (1974-1977) and later at Goldsmiths College, (1979-1981).

Attracted to the qualities of traditional low-fired earthenware Koch developed a technique of coiling in wide straps of clay, smoothing the walls to give a poised organic shape. Carefully controlling the drying process, she applies a fine slip coloured with oxides or stains. Finally, she burnishes the surface. An initial biscuit firing is followed by a sawdust firing, which creates the smoke-fired effects on the rich sheen of the surface.

Gabrielle Koch exhibits widely. Her work is held in public collections in Britain, Germany and Switzerland.