drawingdetail: Articles of clay. From left to right:Earthen vessel, Tennessee. The handles of the vase are ornamented. The handle has been elaborated into a life form, representing a frog or human figure. The arms are attached to the upper part of the handle and lie extended along the rim. The handle proper represents the body, the breast being protruded. The legs lie flattened out upon the shoulder of the vessel, the feet being bent back beneath the body. Height 3-1/2 inches.Earthen vessel, Missouri. Bottle-shaped vase. The top is modeled to represent the curved stem and neck of a gourd. Height 7 inches.Earthen vessel, Arkansas. A fine bottle-shaped vase. The original color the vase was a dull reddish yellow. The neck is red, the body is ornamented with four red and four white figures, which extend from the neck to the base of the vessel. These belts of color are separated by bands of the ground-color of the vessel. Height 12 inches.Earthen vessel, Missouri. Low, wide-mouthed vase or bowl, modeled about the rim to represent sunfish. Vertical view. 5 inches in length.Earthen vessel, Arkansas. Two small vessels with globular bodies, which have a curious resemblance to an ordinary teapot. A spout has, in each case, been added to the side of the body.via Project GutenbergSource: William H. Holmes.  Illustrated Catalogue of a Portion of the Collections Made During the Field Season of 1881: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1884, pages 427-510.
Vases and bowl by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott.via Magic Bean:With a career spanning over 45 years, world renowned ceramist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott’s work looks as fresh today as it did when she first created it. Born in Ballarat in 1935, she studied for her Bachelor of Arts at The University of Melbourne during the 50s.Hanssen Pigott concentrates on the subject of the functional vessel, investigating its subtleties and nuances. Exploring the format of the group, she presents variations on related forms of vases, beakers, bowls and teapots as still lifes. Wheel-thrown in porcelain and using variations of wood-fired celadon glazes, Pigott’s approach to composition and presentation in these deceptively simple forms of grouped, functional objects reflect the influence of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.
Handmade ash glaze katakuchi bowl. Made in Bizen region, Japan for Sfera brand. Katakuchi are spouted serving bowls often used for serving sake.D. 10cm, H. 6cmSource: Analogue Life
theantidote: Jun ware bowl with robin’s egg blue glaze, made in China, 1115-1234 (source) (via aleyma:)
Kizaemon Tea-Bowl, Korea, 16th Century (used for Japanese Tea Ceremony, 17th Century).“This single Tea-bowl is considered to be the finest in the world. When I saw it, my heart fell. … So simple, no more ordinary thing could be imagined. …The clay had been dug from the hill at the back of the house; the glaze was made with the ash from the hearth; the potter’s wheel had been irregular. The shape revealed no particular thought: it was one of many. The work had been fast; the turning was rough, done with dirty hands; the throwing slipshod; the glaze had run over the foot. … The kiln was a wretched affair; the firing careless. Sand had stuck to the pot. … Made for a purpose, made to do work. Sold to be used in everyday life. …“The Tea masters liked the fine netting of crackle on Ido bowls… They found a charm when the glaze skipped in firing, and when a ‘landscape’ formed in the pattern of mended cracks. … [T]hey developed a high appreciation for the internal volume and curve of bowls; they looked to see how green tea settles into them. They were particular how the rims of bowls feel to the lips… By whose hands was that remarkable beauty produced, to be later discovered by the sharp eyes of men of Tea?” – Sōetsu Yanagi, The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty