Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal was born in England and trained as a potter. He gained recognition for his porcelain works and later published the acclaimed memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes, which won the Costa Book Award for Biography and the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.

De Waal's signature practice involves creating site-specific installations of numerous porcelain vessels, often arranged in response to the history of a location or the contents of a collection. His work explores themes of memory, displacement, and the movement of objects and ideas.

In 2026, Galerie Max Hetzler announced a solo exhibition by de Waal titled the eight directions of the wind at The Huntington in Los Angeles, opening in October 2026. His work was also included in the Victoria and Albert Museum's 2027 programme Sculpture in Clay.