When we talk Chinese pottery, I’m constantly in awe of their versatility in working the glazes. You would think that this color scheme would get muddied as it fired, but not so much. The detailing in the clay on the bird it delightful as well.
Tag: pottery
Saturday
While not as ritualistic as Japanese and Chinese art, Korean art is more function over form – everything is clearly intended for use, rather than for trotting out for show.
Monday
Tiles pretty. Pretty tiles. Look at the pretty tiles.
Thursday
This is another University City pottery piece, again, deceptively simple in its design but devilishly complicated in its execution. It literally gleams in the light from the gilt and it’s the kind of vase you’d imagine them sourcing to use on the set of Downton Abbey or something of that ilk.
Wednesday
The University City studio of pottery is seriously some of the most gorgeous American made pottery of the Art Nouveau movement. There are a fair number of examples tucked away, including tilework, vases and the like. This is one of my favorites: there is nothing simple about the composition, nothing easy about the matte finish in the glaze, the spacing in between the lines… it is an exercise in precision and execution. Its seeming simplicity belies just how extremely difficult it is to pull off with perfection.
Wednesday
Down on the first floor, hiding at the bottom of a stairwell, rarely noticed for the last 30 years or so has been this beautiful set of tilework. I say unnoticed because how many people actually look at what’s at the bottom of the stairwells? I do. I look everywhere at everything. I look in every nook and corner, around every doorway, up every staircase.
I’m in awe that these tiles have survived in this condition for this long; the colors are just as vivid now as the day they were fired. The scrollwork is just as ornate as the day it was painted. I love everything about them. They are one of my favorite hidden gems in the SLAM museum collection.
Tuesday
For being a really old piece of pottery, this jar has a very modern design. The colors are bold and sexy, the splashes abstract and come hither in a way that both intrigues and repels, and the whole thing seems to be deliberately unfinished. I love it for all of its inconsistencies.