Ursula Mommens

{{Short description|English potter}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Ursula Mommens

| image = Ursula_Mommens_at_work.jpg

| image_size = 225px

| alt =

| caption = Ursula Mommens at work, c. 1950

| birth_name = Ursula Frances Elinor Darwin

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1908|08|20}}

| birth_place = Cambridge, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2010|01|30|1908|08|20}}

| death_place =

| nationality = English

| spouse = Julian Trevelyan
Norman Mommens

| field = Pottery

| training = Royal College of Art

| movement =

| works =

| patrons =

| awards =

| elected =

}}

Ursula Frances Elinor Mommens (née Darwin, formerly Trevelyan; 20 August 1908 – 30 January 2010){{cite web |url=http://www.theceramicartist.com/display1.asp?mainid=1&select=183 |title=Ursula Mommens |work=The Ceramic Artist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414211428/http://www.theceramicartist.com/display1.asp?mainid=1&select=183 |archive-date=14 April 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=18 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/03/ursula-mommens-obituary|title=Ursula Mommens obituary|last=Whiting|first=David|work=The Guardian|date=3 February 2010|access-date=3 February 2010}} was an English potter. Mommens studied at the Royal College of Art, under William Staite Murray, and later worked with Michael Cardew at Winchcombe Pottery and Wenford Bridge Pottery.{{cite web |title=Ursula Mommens |url=http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=64 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205210055/http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=64 |archive-date=5 December 2022 |access-date=18 October 2019 |work=The Pottery Studio}}

Born in Cambridge and raised in Downe (then in Kent, now in Bromley), she was the daughter of Bernard Darwin and his wife the engraver Elinor Monsell. Her brother was Sir Robert Vere Darwin. She was the great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin and the great-great-granddaughter of the potter Josiah Wedgwood.{{cite web |last=Rastall |first=John |url=http://www.studio-pots.com/ursulamommens.htm |title=Ursula Mommens – Potter |work=Harlequin Gallery |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312195930/http://www.studio-pots.com/ursulamommens.htm |archive-date=12 March 2016 |access-date=18 October 2019}}

She married first Julian Trevelyan; their son is the film-maker Philip Trevelyan. Her second husband was Norman Mommens.

Mommens lived and worked in South Heighton, East Sussex, making both wood and gas-fired functional stoneware using a clay body she developed herself with ash glazes.{{cite web |last=Besson |first=Anita |url=http://www.galeriebesson.co.uk/thejugshowartists.html |title=The Jug Show Artists |work=Galerie Besson |access-date=18 October 2019}} She lived to the age of 101.