Chester Nealie (1942- ) was born in Rotorua on the north island of New Zealand. He graduated from Auckland Secondary Teachers College in 1963 and began working as a potter in 1964 after a visit to New Zealand by Shoji Hamada, Takeichi Kawai and Michael Cardew. From 1972-1975 Nealie taught ceramics at North Shore Teachers College. He built his first anagama kiln in 1978 after visiting Japan and began to specialise in woodfiring, travelling widely and becoming an international authority in the field. In 1991 he moved to Australia, settling with his wife Jan Irvine Nealie on a 100 hectare property near Gulgong, NSW. Nealie makes classically thrown raw forms which he then alters and fires for extended periods, using flame and ash to produce rich effects. He has held numerous solo exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia, as well as participating in group exhibitions in Japan, Korea, China, USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Spain and Germany. His mark is an incised 'C' with a long tail and three triangular shapes, one above and two below the tail.