Gwilym Thomas studied at the Royal College of Art, London from 1935 to 1938, and was particularly influenced by William Staite Murray. He became an inspirational teacher himself, working at Hammersmith College of Art. He exhibited rarely during his lifetime, and his work did not become well known until a retrospective exhibition was held in 1995. During the 1960's he made a series of these tall thrown forms with bold, abstract scgraffito and painted decoration.