Angry Bird Pitcher

This Georges Hoentschel pitcher draws on the sprawling, gestural shapes of the French art nouveau, with deliberate attention to the figurative potential of a pitcher’s traditional form. Famous for his work as an interior decorator within the art nouveau movement, Hoentschel’s sensibility draws heavily on the needs of his practice. Avoiding explicit figuration, the shape of this pitcher alludes to a bird’s form and at once bears the organic quality of foliage, echoed in the glaze. The wings and beak of this pitcher are formed from leaf-like folds of clay encircling its body and sprouting from its neck.