Images(4)

Earthenware Bottle Vase

MakerMade by Michael Cardew (Wimbledon, London, England, 1901 - 1983)

MakerMade by Winchcombe Pottery (Winchcombe, England, founded 1926)

StudentTaught by Bernard Leach (Hong Kong, 1887 - 1979)

CollectorCollected by Sandy Dunbar (London, England, 1929 - 2012)

Datec. 1928

Object NameBottle

Mediumearthenware

ClassificationsCeramics

DimensionsOverall (Height x Width x Depth): 225 × 140 × 125mm
Base (Diameter): 85mm

AcquisitionThe Sandy Dunbar Studio Ceramics Collection presented in 2023 by Crinan Dunbar and Rebecca Russell.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS095708.22

Keywords

About MeThis earthenware jar has a prominent shoulder, tapering towards the foot and a single small loop handle.

It is decorated with an iron oxide brushed design over white slip and three combed bands under a galena (lead) glaze. Combing is a technique that potters use to make parallel lines on the surface of a pot, often by dragging a tool through the clay to reveal the surface below.

This is an early piece of Michael Cardew's work, made at Winchcombe Pottery, Gloucestershire. Cardew took over the disused Greet Pottery in 1926, running it as a rural pottery producing domestic wares. At Winchcombe Cardew also was instrumental in reviving the English slipware tradition, decorating his earthenware pottery with a creamy liquid clay known as slip. He employed Elijah Comfort, who had previously worked as a thrower at Greet Pottery and Sidney Tustin, who learned how to throw at the Winchcombe. They were later joined by Ray Finch who eventually took over Winchcombe Pottery after Cardew returned to Cornwall in 1939.