Mid Century Stoneware Relief by Tom Lewis

This ceramic plaque is signed T. Lewis, likely referring to Tom Lewis, a British ceramicist whose work has occasionally surfaced in the UK, particularly associated with school or community-based art from the 1960s–80s. His pieces are often slab-built, textural, and stylised — usually depicting figures or abstract forms in a primitive, almost totemic style.
 
This example shows a robed figure in low relief, with one hand holding a crook or staff and the other a small object — possibly a bell, vessel or book. The figure could be religious or folkloric, but there’s no clear reference — part of what makes these pieces so open to interpretation. The number once scratched into the back (which we've left out here) is typical of works produced in batches, perhaps for an institution or series.
 
Not much is documented about Lewis in formal archives, but pieces like this speak to the spirit of postwar British ceramics — tactile, modest, and quietly expressive.
 
Condition: Excellent - potential small chip near head, hard to tell
Size: W 9cm x L 21cm x D 3.5cm