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Samuel Chatto has an exhibition opening this spring in Japan. The 28 year old grandson of the late Princess Margaret announced the news on his Instagram on March 14.
"I’m delighted to announce my upcoming exhibition with @sokyo_gallery in Kyoto," Samuel wrote. "The works shown came out of a residency I did with the gallery last year, along with more recent works wood fired at my studio in West Sussex."
"These works respond to the idea of ‘Interior and Exterior,’ balance and flow, they are also influenced by landscapes and tea culture in Britain and Japan. Made with porcelain and local clays from Japan and Sussex," he continued.
"Sam Chatto : Interior and Exterior" officially opens at the Sokyo Gallery in Kyoto, Japan on Friday, April 4. The exhibition will run through April 19.
Samuel is Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto's eldest son. Per his Royal Drawing School alumni page, Princess Margaret's grandson graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an MA in History of Art in 2018, and in 2019, he joined the Royal Drawing School and "has since developed a highly individualistic practice, where both the subjects of his work and the materials he uses display his deep connection to the landscape around him."
Sam has previously described 2018 as "such an incredible year of self reflection and growth for me." In an Instagram post, he recalled: "I spent six weeks in the very north of Scotland immersed in pottery and ceramics, being taught by the most patient and passionate potter. Clay consumed my every waking hour and I am so excited to see what I can achieve this year!"
According to a bio for Sam included in the caption of an Instagram post shared in 2024, "Samuel Chatto works from his studio in West Sussex, UK. Beginning his practice in 2018, he studied at North Shore Pottery, Latheron, Scotland, making functional objects inspired by the studio pottery movement and developing his passion for wood firing, digging clay and making glazes. Chatto is fascinated by the work of Bernard Leech and Shōji Hamada and the tradition of cultural exchange between Britain and Japan—especially the importance of the tea vessel."
In 2019, Samuel told the Daily Mail, "I'm working in clay to create functional and sculptural wood-fired ceramics from my home and studio in West Sussex. I've always had a strong affinity with creating objects, having spent much of my childhood crafting imagined landscapes and sculptural models, which naturally led me to clay during my later years at school. My creative practice took a back seat while I studied History of Art at Edinburgh, but was revived, in the summer of 2017, by a visit to North Shore Pottery [in Caithness]."
"Inspired by what I had seen in Scotland, and completely uninspired by my three-month job in the commercial art market, I spent my weekends setting up a small home studio to rediscover my creativity and built a wood-fired kiln at the bottom of my garden," he continued. "The decision to start selling my work comes from a strong belief in the power of beautiful, well-made objects to enrich and enhance our lives."