Derek Maynard Davis (24 February 1926 – 3 September 2008) was an English artist, working in the media of painting and pottery. He was born in Wandsworth, South London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. He joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1943, to fight in World War II. After the war he entered the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Together with his friend Eric James Mellon he then started a pottery workshop in Hillesden, Buckinghamshire. Later he left to work on his own, and moved to Arundel, West Sussex. Here he developed his ceramics further, coming up with several innovative techniques. An eye operation in 1994 left him unable to look through the hole in the pottery kiln, and after this he started focusing on painting instead.