Anglo-Saxon cemetery, Faversham, Kent, excavated 1860's;
The Claw Beaker would have been a prized heirloom in Anglo Saxon England. The object presents an insight into the aesthetics typical amongst rich Anglo Saxons or royalty. The beaker’s claw- or trunk-like protrusions were made by applying blobs of hot glass which melted the parts of the wall to which they were attached. The blobs were then blown outward to resemble hollow claws. The glass would have been made using potash as the main alkali flux and it’s believed that some of the glass beakers may have been made using recycled glass.The vessel has been dated broadly to the mid-6th century and it believed to have been made in Germany.
This particular glass beaker was found in Faversham- which coincidently is where I have been drawing inspiration for my project. Faversham lies along the swale which historically would have been an important place for trade and migration. I was particularly drawn to this object because of it’s alien like aesthetic. It has a masculine and somewhat threatening appearance. The fact that this object was only relatively recently uncovered is intriguing and allows for the imagination to wonder- a threatening past bubbling up to the ground.
Gohon Tea Bowl
Date Made :1500-1600
Imported into Japan from
Outstanding example of a Gohon Tea Bowl made in Korea during the Korean Joseon Period. This particular tea bowl would have been made during the late Joseon Period which is identified by the Japanese Invasion of Korea. The maker is unknown however on the box in which the tea cup would have been presented is enscripted name of a fourth generation tea master’ Jikyusai Ichio who was the great grand son of the founder of a school of tea ceremony.
The bowl presents traces of repairs, skilfully made with lacquer and gold (kintsugi), which gives depth to its nobility quality and helps to accentuate its exquisite features. The choice of kintsugi is steeped in history- not only a way to exquisitely repair a broken pot but is represents a more symbolic interpretation of human resilience- craft pieces as more than just historic artefacts or examples of exceptional skill and design- It represents a higher level of symbolism and value.
William Turner, Margate From the Sea
This is a watercolour painting by the artist William Turner. He was a romantic landscape painter and water colourist, He’s style it is said laid the foundations for impressionism. This painting, it is believed is an impressionist painting of looking out to the sea in Margate and is celebrated as an excellent example of his ability to encapsulate mood through his impressive use of material to replicate light in his paintings.
George Ohr, 1900 Glazed earthenware
George Edgar Ohr in many ways represents the quintessential Arts and Crafts potter in the early 20th Century. Combining both artistic vision with extraordinary skill and experimentation. Working in the seaside resort town of Biloxi, Mississippi, he dug, processed and prepared the clay.
Ohr’s personal mantra was “no two alike,” and he was as eccentric as his work was individualistic, with its manipulated forms on thrown vessels, crimping, ruffling, off-centring, and twisting, to create unprecedented forms. To these forms, he applied his own completely new and unusual glazes, applied by sponging, splashing, and spattering, resulting in works that in many ways anticipated the abstract art movements that would find form decades later.
It is this child like state of exploration of the material that fascinates me most about Ore’s work. He’s ability to reject the manufactured perfection seen in this era of pottery was and still is liberating. Combined with his eccentric personality and way of working, he would draw curiosity and intrigue. It’s perhaps this ability to challenge uniformity and social construct that made his pieces so unique and intriguing.
Livia Gorka
Date Made: 1950-1960
Budapest, Hungary
Livia Gorka (Born 1925-) Took a certificate as master potter in 1947. Her master was her father, Géza Gorka. A free-lancing artist, The source of her art is nature, her typical objects are large asymmetrical vessels, idols, fish, birds, stones. Makes high-fired items of her own clay bodies, often stoneware. She uses oxide-glaze, combines clay with metals frequently.
Whilst living in Hungary I became fascinated by the work of Livia Gorka whose stunning work seems to rebel against this pursuit for perfection. In complete contrast, Gorka seems to adopt an intrinsically tribal quality where each piece is created uniquely with great thought and clear passion. I am fascinated by her use of custom-made materials and oxide glaze combined with her experimentation with colours reflective of an almost plastic pallet common during the commercialisation associated with the 1950. It would also be worth remembering this being an incredibly important historic period for Hungary and I have no doubt that this would have had influence on her work.
Lucie Rie
Date Made: 1950-1960
London
Lucie Rie was a pioneer of modernism in pottery during the 20th century, often called the ‘Godmother of modern ceramics.’ Rie’s works, usually consisting of hand-thrown pots, bottles, and bowl forms, are noteworthy for their Modernist forms and her use of bright colours.
I love the organic shapes that emerge from her throwing and her experimentation with extenuating certain aspects of a pot, which draw greater curiosity and interest from the viewer. The child-like imagination is permitted to draw comparisons to these shapes, be it from nature or from more abstract ideas linked to Pareidolia- seeing human faces/ qualities in innate objects.
Waistel Cooper
His pots tend to have a textured surface and he is known for his use of wood ash glazes. Stylistically, he responded to continental modernism with simplicity and directness of approach. He was particularly concerned with the relationship between dark, silky matt glazes and unglazed clay surface such as in this example. His pots seem to have a conceptual relationship with the landscape. He would throw using the Dorset ball clay with up to 40 per cent grog with a high iron content. which either produced small dark nodules in the clay body or broke through the glaze to create spots linking body, glaze and surface.
For me his pots encapsulate the coastal qualities and mood associated with the south coast. The choice of black oxidized glaze combined with the grog replicates an almost volcanic rock texture. Along with the white slip application during throwing there is an energetic and dynamic quality to his pots which seem to resemble powerful waves hitting against the coast.
Magdalene Odundo
Blackened terracotta 2004 Magdalene Odundo was born in Nairobi in 1950. After education in Kenya and India she studied at West Surrey College of Art and Design.
She hand-coils each of her vases, building up her asymmetrical, pot-bellied vase–forms. The pot is unglazed with the colour coming from the clay body and thin layers of slip clay. The smooth surface is achieved by burnishing by hand before and after firing. The pots are sometimes fired many times to achieve the right effect. This is a traditional Ugandan pottery technique called emsubi.
I think what drew me to her work, was her choice of simple yet incredibly evocative shapes- almost like human forms. The mouth or the neck of the piece draws you in inwards as if a storyteller beckoning you to listen. It’s clear that her childhood memory of Kenya’s geographical landscape as well as the cultural influences of growing up there are embodied in her pots. I’m intrigued also by how her later research as an adult in to processes of pot making in Ugandan pottery had such a huge influence on not just the pots themselves but also on her philosopher of the importance of craft making handed down through generations.
Tony Cragg
Hollow Head 2008 Bronze Sculpture
At first the sculptures may seem distorted but then become more apparent. As if the work is a frozen rivulet of water, delicate and fleeting. Much of his most recent work comprises anthropomorphised monumental works which hint towards representations of the human face. (http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artwork/point-of-view 05.11.2020)
I think with Craggs work I chose this piece because it seemed to encapsulate much of the interests linked to the work of the other artists that I had chosen. From the anthropomorphic qualities similar to the Saxon claw cup to the Pareidolian and abstract qualities of Lucie Rie to the smooth and delicate feelings of nature that are felt in Magdalene Odundo pots.