Born in Lincolnshire, John Maltby studied sculpture at Leicester and at Goldsmiths’ College, London. He taught painting for two and half years before working with David Leach at Bovey Tracey (1962-64). In 1964 he started his own workshop at Stoneshill, near Credition, Devon.

Maltby is a prolific maker and has exhibited in numerous galleries in Britain and Europe. His work is represented in public and private collections worldwide, including the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Museum für Kunstegewerbe, Hamburg and the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.

His recent exhibitions at Galerie Besson, "Figures in a Landscape" in 2001 and "Variations on a Musical Theme" in 2003, have both presented his figurative pieces which has worked on since 1996. In the introduction to his 2001 show, a collector of his work, Rudolf Strasser, wrote "The figures themselves, mostly queens, kings and angels, seem to represent a pure and ideal world and radiate great dignity... They are imbued with a cautious love of life.. This makes (Maltby's) art timeless, deeply human and at the same time comforting. "