Jim Keeling is a ceramic artist and designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Whichford Pottery in Warwickshire, in 1976. While the pottery is best known for its frost-proof flowerpots and for producing pots for the Royal Gardens in the United Kingdom, Keeling’s own ceramic practice has long been deeply connected to Japan, and particularly to the traditions of Bizen ware.

Keeling’s approach to wood-firing was shaped by his mentor, the late Living National Treasure Isezaki Jun (1936–2026), and by Isezaki’s son, Isezaki Koichiro. Their influence can be seen in Keeling’s firing techniques and in his use of the anagama kiln he built at Whichford Pottery, where prolonged wood firings allow flame, ash and atmosphere to become integral to the finished surface of each vessel.

Since 2017, Keeling has collaborated with Bizen ceramic artist Ishida Kazuya on a body of work they call “Bizen–Whichford.” Together, they create Bizen style vessels fired in Whichford Pottery’s anagama-style kiln, combining the character of local clays with the natural ash deposits and expressive surfaces associated with Bizen’s wood-firing tradition.

This tea bowl reflect Keeling’s longstanding engagement with Japanese ceramics and wood-firing. Its surfaces, formed by hidasuki effects using local straw from Warwickshire, along with the movement of flame over long firings, and the accumulation of natural ash in the kiln, speak to the enduring influence of Bizen and to the relationships with Japanese potters that have shaped his ceramic career.