Volcanic Drips

Sculpted by Emile Grittel and former assistants of the late Jean-Joseph Carriès, this stoneware vessel bears an unusual shape, broken up at the shoulder. The modular appearance and the dripping glaze seeming to spout from the mouth of the vessel give it a sense of the arbitrary. The volcanic rivulets running down one side of the vase use the liquid, and thus not wholly predictable, property of glaze to give the vase its individual appearance, fully controlled by the ceramist. The body and shoulders of this vessel are embellished with horizontal bands and a motif resembling a twisted rope, which would have been added onto the vessel before the clay had completely hardened but before it was glazed. This peek into the method behind the creation of such a piece shows the great skill and thought involved in its conception.