Peter Rushforth is one of Australia's most significant pioneer studio ‘master' potters. He creates high-fired stoneware vessels using Jun (Chun), Temmoku, limestone and ash glazes. Produced in a traditional wood-fired kiln, each pot is unique in its form and glaze quality. Peter's pots are the result of many years of patient research and experiment. While he has been influenced by Japanese and Chinese pottery, the forms he makes and the local materials he uses, give his work a distinctive Australian character. Peter's choices of colours and textures have been influenced by the vistas of valleys, bushland and mountains within which he lives. He says of his work, “Dominating my pots are the processes themselves, fire, clay and the earth materials that form the essence of individually made pots”.

Peter Rushforth commenced training as a potter in 1946 at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He continued his studies at the National Gallery School in Melbourne and then at the National Art School in Sydney. A former Head of the Ceramic Department at The National School in Sydney, he has travelled extensively in the UC, Denmark and the USA on a Churchill Fellowship and has spent time working in Japan. Since 1978, when he retired from teaching, he has worked full-time as a potter. He has held over 20 solo exhibitions in Australia and overseas, including two in Japan, as well as participating in numerous group shows in Australia, the USA, Asia and Europe. His work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, State and Regional Galleries as well as in private collections throughout the world. In 1985 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to ceramics and, in that year, the National Gallery of Victoria held a retrospective exhibition of his work.