Frances Woodley studied at Cardiff College of Art in the 1970s and, unusually for the period, made figurative forms that disregarded the normal practices of studio pottery at that time. She combined ceramics with textiles and coloured the surfaces with enamel paints rather than fired glazes. Fantasy animal forms have been a major theme in her work in ceramics and in printmaking. She is now Head of Visual Art at the University of Glamorgan.
This is a more straightforwardly representational piece made in hand-modelled glazed earthenware. It was also produced at the International Ceramic Symposium in Cardiff in 1975 and presented by the Welsh Arts Council in 1977.