When I went to work in the ceramic industry in Stoke-on-Trent the term Master Potter was used to describe people, usually members of the great pottery families, who had a wide knowledge of all aspects of pottery manufacture, from the preparation of the raw materials through the making processes, glazing, firing and decorating. They have largely died out and have been replaced by accountants, marketing managers, technologists and engineers. The all rounder is now a thing of the past.

Grahame Clarke is as close as you can get to a Master Potter. I can think of few people who can match his breadth of knowledge and also his craft skills. He can throw perfectly, but is also a skilled modeller and mould maker. He can hand paint with great skill and refinement. It was Grahame Clarke who helped David Grant at Highland Stoneware to develop the body, glazes and colours that have established the Highland Stoneware look. Highland Stoneware is now 25 years old and Grahame is a director of the company and still involved in design and product development.

His background is interesting. In the fifties he spent a summer working with Harry Davis in Cornwall, who was a pupil of Bernard Leach and a brilliant technician. His work experience with Davis was an important influence and confirmed his desire to make pottery his career. He went to Hornsey College of Art. I was Professor of Ceramics at the College and had persuaded Hans Coper and Eduardo Paolozzi to teach in the department. It was a dynamic and exciting period for all of us. It was at the College that Grahame developed his interest in design and in his final year worked between three departments, glass, silver-smithing and ceramics.

On graduation he went to work for Royal Doulton. His design experience in the industry was soul destroying as the work involved designing patterns for the North American bridal market. After four years he left the Doultons disillusioned with the pottery industry's approach to design, but still fascinated by ceramics. At Royal Doulton he learnt about mass production in the ceramics industry and some years later he was to gain further industrial experience working for Bing and Grondahl in Copenhagen. Grahame found Bing and Grondahl much more receptive to his style of design than Royal Doulton and worked with them on a number of rewarding projects. His departure from Doultons coincided with the Department of Ceramics at the Royal College of Art requiring a new tutor, and I felt that Grahame was the right person for this position. He joined the staff of the college in 1970 and helped generations of students to realise their potential and importantly carry out their work. His knowledge and craft skills were invaluable. Grahame operated in the workshop, and in those days there was a very close relationship between staff and students in the creative process. The staff were encouraged to carry out their own work in the college.

In1989 Grahame retired from the RCA and established his own studio ceramic workshop in Norfolk. Here he makes exquisite products using the porcelain body developed for Highland Stoneware that is similar to Chinese porcelain. Hand painted blue and white porcelain is one of the great ceramic traditions and Grahame works within this, but his designs are illustrative and idiosyncratic, and often draw influences from the Norfolk area in which he lives. His painting is extremely skillful and meticulous but he has an expressive painterly quality. I drink every morning from a mug that Grahame made for me. The blue lettering on the mug has flowed into the glaze, creating a beautiful fluid ceramic quality. I have many mugs in my house but I always choose Grahame's.

Grahame makes beautiful pots that are decorative, functional and comfortable to live with. His work differs from so much contemporary pottery that has no function and is subject to the whims of fashion. It has integrity and I think will stand the test of time.

The Marquess of Queensberry.