A ceramic vessel with a handle was found on a beach. It is rather small but it is convenient to hold. It can hold around 250 ml of liquid. It is white and well-crafted. The surface of the object is very smooth. Notably, a face of a human is carved. There are traits of an Asian person though it is difficult to identify the race. The mouth of the person is open and there is a hole with capacity of 50ml.
The object is well rafted and it is unlikely to be hand-made. Its production required specific machinery. Working with ceramics can be time and effort-consuming and such precision requires a technological approach. The paint is quite easy to produce and is of high quality. Thus, it is possible to infer that people at that time had quite developed industry and infrastructure as transportation of such object had to be carried out on special vehicles. This fact can prove that industries as well as the economy of that society were well-developed.
It is possible to think of a number of possible ways to use this object. First of all, the object looks like vessels we use for drinking. It is acknowledged that vessels for drinking have been the same for centuries and even millennia. However, there are no other holes in our vessels. There is theory that a candle (or a heater and so on) could be put into the hole to keep the liquid warm all the time.
This may mean that people preferred only hot drinking or there was a drink which had to be warm or hot all the time. It is also possible to infer that it was extremely cold at that period and people tried to warm themselves up. It is also necessary to note that people could value portability very much so they might have been nomads. It is possible to assume that heat could change the composition of the substance inside the vessel. Of course, it could be easier to study this issue if there were at least some particle of a substance but the object is absolutely clean.
There was a theory that it is a vessel for drinking and eating at the same time. Of course, it is unlikely to be true though it has the right to exist. Again, it reveals peoples attention to portability as they could hold a drink and food and bring it with them in a comfortable way. Though, food should be quite small. This could be a set of pills or nutritious substances. This suggests that people had quite developed food industry at that time.
Apart from a vessel, this object could have a sacred meaning. It could be an object of worship. It could contain some substance which could be constantly heated to enhance some effects (for example, evaporation of substances, emission of a gas and so on). This could also be a chandelier. It is likely that it was filled or covered with something.
It is possible to note that the face depicted on the object shows human-centric nature of peoples worship. Hence, the face can represent a god. The color can be a symbol of the white race or purity. Notably, this could be a god of fertility (as it can hold some objects like food) or a god of wisdom as there could be a light placed inside. Actually, this could be a divine force associated with many essential spheres. There is a theory that the object was a holder of a divine light (some sort of fire). Of course, it could also be an artwork or a decoration. It could be a penholder or even a hat or a part of something else.
The perfect condition of the vessel suggests that it was rather an object of worship as a household object is often worn-out. The vessel in question was polished without any cracks or flaws. It could be a vessel which had never been used as it was new. For example, it could be lost during transportation. It is a big question how it preserved in such a good way.
Clearly, there may be a number of theories and they can all turn out to be right. However, further research is necessary. It is important to look for mentioning of the object in documents, art or literature. Finding of one more similar object can shed light on the use of the object in question.
Ceramic design encapsulates various types of practice from outstanding and talented makers who create valuable artifacts to product designers who introduce refined pottery and porcelain with regard to cultural and social environment. Between ancient and modern ceramic work, there is a great gap due to the social and political changes that are constantly occurring. Nevertheless, ceramic design culture has still managed to preserve its aesthetic value for each country.
Aesthetic judgment and appreciation of works created by potters are closely connected with the past traditions and the necessity to preserve the uniqueness of each culture. In this regard, ceramic works can be considered as the bears of history and culture; they can serve as the basic artifacts for reading the history of different people of Westerns and Eastern civilizations. Therefore, it is imperative to analyze the actual significance of ceramic works with regard to aesthetic culture presented in various countries.
Describing the Main Characteristics of Ceramic Design in Various Countries
Eastern Ceramics
Ceramic design in Eastern cultures has always been marked by the cuteness of styles and techniques. This particularly concerns Chinese pottery and porcelain and the rise of cuteness in Japan, or the advent of kawai culture in the second half of the twentieth century. Although ceramic design culture dates far back to ancient times, the modern tendencies in contemporary design have still preserves the main peculiarities of Eastern culture (Marshal Cavendish Corporation, 2007, p. 1034).
It should be stressed that both Japanese and Chinese potter design has a rich tradition and heritage. Hence, even current trends in Japanese ceramic design reflect the nobility and aesthetic sensibility of the past times, yet with the introduction of modern trends (Sosnovsky, 1999, p. 22).
In comparison with others pottery designs, Japanese pottery developed to the highest level of aesthetic appreciation. Special significance to Japanese pottery was given in the appearance of tea ceremony. The potters produced various objects, such as kabin, hand-held censers, and suiteki (Sosnovsky, 1999, p. 23).
Chinese Porcelain (Chinese Ceramics Part II, 2009).
In comparison with Japanese potters, Chinese ceramic ware became popular much earlier, in Paleolithic era (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2007). It is also known for its refined porcelain whose production flourished during the Song Dynasty. There were different techniques in producing porcelain in various historic periods. Nowadays, Jingdezhen is considered to be the main center of ceramic art and design together with Guangdong Chaozhou and Dehua.
Indian pottery also has a great value for the people for the peoples traditions and culture. Like Japanese pottery, its development originates from the Neolithic period during which the pottery was represented by palegrey, red, orange, or pale-red, brown, pale brown, or reddish-brown and black and cream slipped wares& (Gupta, 1988 p. 18).
Indian potters make use of pottery wheel techniques and create vases and vessels of various forms (Indian Potter, 2008). The Indian potters resort to various techniques for manufacturing different pots such as pressing, scooping, coiling, molding, or throwing (Lemonnier 1993, p. 160).
Italian ceramic ware (European Pottery, n .d)
Western and European trends of ceramic design
In the course of worlds pottery-making history, it was possible to pursue different trends and styles in making ceramic ware. The concentration of potter production was influenced by major trade routes in the Eastern region, including Eastern ports of Europe (Hopper, 2000, p. 48).
Through these trade routes, the craft was gradually transferred to the Mediterranean region. Therefore, European ceramic production was largely affected by Chinese and Japanese pottery, which became popular and fashionable. Until 19th century, the European pottery craft fell into several categories: tin-glazed earthenware, lead-glazed earthenware, stoneware, soft and hard porcelain, stoneware, and bone china. (Hooper, 2000, p. 50)
Describing the Differences in Ceramic Designs Culture in Various Countries
Roseville Pottery.
Although the European ceramic design has been influenced by Eastern trends, there are still some differences and shift in trends and styles development. The explicit differences could be already viewed in the end of the 19th with the foundation of the Roseville Pottery Company, which began the production of utilitarian pottery (About Roseville Pottery, 2010). It specialized in the production of stoneware, flower pots, cuspidors, umbrella stands that were of the highest quality. It should be stressed that the company gave priority to producing commercially beneficial pottery, although aesthetic conception was also of great value.
When discussing the major difference between Asian and European ceramics, it is purposefully to pay attention to timing and historic circumstances. Indeed, Chinese, together with Japanese and Indian ceramics refer to ancient times. The Eastern culture has a much richer history of development, specifically for China and Japan where ceramic was closely related to traditions, rites, and ceremonies.
In contrast, European craft was primarily developed for practical purposes. Specifically, Chinese pottery also played an important role in various ceremonies and customers. According to the rise of pottery in China is closely connected with Song ceramics and its aesthetic trends.
Evaluating the Differences in Culture of Ceramic Design
According to Pierson (2007), interest in earlier Chinese ceramics, as opposed to porcelain, coincided with the development of the studio pottery movement in English and the craft ideal associated with this (p. 114). In this regard, Chinese pottery presented ideal images and trends in the craft; it personified high quality and impeccable forms, symmetry and equilibrium.
Therefore, Chinese ceramic ware harmonized with philosophic and cultural views on the Chinese people who strived to harmony and reconciliation. They gave priority to aesthetics as the main essence of life. Therefore, the Chinese ceramics was highly appreciated in Western and European countries where pottery was considered as an object of aesthetic art, but not as an object that could be utilized.
Nevertheless, trends in European potter ware highly affected by the Eastern development. In particular, the potters were trying to imitate the forms and ingredients. In the 20th century, the dominant ceramic aesthetics was primarily connected with the idea of visual harmony based on using simple materials and hand-making tools. Later, the art of ceramics was primarily aimed at striking the balance between aesthetics and practical use.
Conclusion
A brief analysis of ceramic art and design in various countries provides a clearer picture of differences and similarities of peoples attitude to this craft. In particular aesthetic appreciation of the works produced by potters is closely associated with past traditions, ceremonies. Each country and culture strive to introduce unique features to their nation and historical heritage.
In this regard, ceramic has much in store for historians to disclose the essence of Eastern and Western understanding of aesthetics. Hence, the presented overview of designs and techniques show that Eastern civilizations, particularly China and Japan gave great important to aesthetic representation and cultural concepts. In contrast, Western civilization are more considered as the followers of those aesthetic values.
All through Korean history ceramics and pottery have played a big role. Initially ceramics and pottery fulfilled a utilitarian role. They were used to cook, store food, and carry water. At some point in history the ceramics for daily use parted ways with the ceramics made as an art form. Ceramics and pottery made for utilitarian uses have been found in great numbers at living sites. Ceramics and pottery made as art were not found mixed with the utilitarian ceramics and pottery. Korean ceramics and pottery were initially greatly influenced by the Chinese. The history of pottery began with the coil method of building a vessel where coils of clay were placed on top of each other and then beaten with a paddle to give it a smooth surface (Microsoft Encarta).
Techniques were created by the Koreans as well as adopted from other cultures. In turn, Korean ceramic techniques have been adopted by other cultures such as the Chinese and Japanese. Hagi ware are a uniquely Japanese ceramic art (tea bowls) that was introduced by the Ri brothers (Ri Shakko and Ri Kei) of Korea. They traveled to Japan in 1604 and introduced the art of making bowls there. Korean rice bowls became Japanese tea bowls (Hagi-yaki) (Yellin, p.2).
The Three Kingdoms Period
From approximately 18 B.C. to A.D. 668 Three different kingdoms held power on the Korean Peninsula. They were the Silla Kingdom, Koguryo Kindom and the Paeche Kingdom. Many of the early techniques used during this period were borrowed from China. It is during this time frame that the potter’s wheel was introduced on the Korean Peninsula. This tool helped increase the rate of production of ceramic pieces. Another contribution to Korean ceramics and pottery was the high-firing kiln introduced from China. Prior to the Kiln’s introduction, most ceramics on the Korean Peninsula were soft, low fired, clay (called wajil t’ogi)(Timeline of Art History, p.2). After the introduction of the high-firing kiln Korean ceramics comes into its own. The Koreans produced a high-fired gray stoneware called Kyongjil t’ogi. The Koreans were the first producers of high-fired ceramics.
Kiln development helped the Koreans develop unique techniques used in their ceramics. Gray color ceramics were the Koreans specialty during the Three Kingdoms Period. They used the high-firing kiln and could control the amount of oxygen used during firing. The reduced oxygen environment in the kiln created the gray color that the Koreans were famous for creating.
Prior to the use of the pottery wheel Korean Ceramic art forms were mostly made to look like things in their environment like birds or totems. The main usage of pottery prior to the pottery wheel was utilitarian. They created vessels used for storing food and for carrying water.
A Unified Silla Dynasty
The Three Kingdoms become the Unified Silla Dynasty. Under Silla control the Koreans pushed out the Chinese creating a unified Korean culture all its own. Silla adopts Buddhism as its state religion. During the Silla Dynasty there still existed a close working relationship with Japan. The Koreans pass on to Japan art and technology. The Koreans also passed on to Japan Buddhism. The Silla’s sent Korean priests to introduce the religion in Japan. “The influence of Korean sculptors can be traced in Buddhist works of the Asuka period (538–710) from the Nara area” (Timeline Of Art History, p.2).
The years of the Silla Dynasty were filled with conflict. The Silla’s asked for China’s help a number of times to conquer their enemies (the Koguryos). China did help but was more interested in conquering the Korean Peninsula and keeping it as part of China. Korea stayed in the Silla dynasty though. The Silla’s drove their Chinese counterparts out of the Korean Peninsula. The newly whole Korean peninsula is called the Unified Silla Dynasty. It is after the creation of the Unified Silla Dynasty that cultural exchanges begin to Tang China and Japan.
Koryo Period
With Buddhism as its state religion Korean arts began to reflect the Buddhist influence. Korean ceramics included those made for the purpose of worship and observance of Buddhism. Celadon ceramic wares were made to use during ceremonies. Celadon ceramic wares have a jade-green finish and are called Cheong-ja in Korean. Cheong-ja were popular during the Koryo period. The were used in the Koryo Royal Court for both everyday use and as objects of fine art. (Korean Arts, p1). By the 12th and 13th century the art of high-fired glazing techniques allowed for the production of Cheong-ja. It is during this period that the Koreans perfect their glazing tencniques and refined their designs. The Koreans also perfected their use of inlays (white and black) The Korean ceramics of this timeframe were very popular.
Choson Dynasty
The Choson dynasty brought big changes to the Korean peninsula. Buddhism was officially out and Neo-Confucianism was in. Korean ceramics were again popular as an industry and white porcelain is created. For a short period punch-ong wares were crafted. Punch-ong were very much like a cross between celadon and other glazed ceramics. Punch-ong had a powdery looking exterior.
The Choson Dynasty included a class of society called the ‘yangban’ or literati class. This class was responsible for both the civil and military branches of government. It is also this class that takes an interest in the arts, to include ceramics. It was common for others to examine the yangban household’s belongings. Art was a form of identification for the yangban. The art in the household gave a person’s status as well as his moral standards. (Timeline of Art History, 1400-1600 p.1).
Throughout the Choson Dynasty the Korean Peninsula was under siege by Japanese marauders. The Koreans tried diplomacy as a way to curtail future attacks from the Japanese. The Koreans gave the Japanese trading privileges that were rescinded and reinstated several times.
During the mid 1400’s the Koreans began producing white porcelain. It is this porcelain that the Choson high court uses and prefers. White porcelain is also manufactured for export to China and Japan. White porcelain that was undecorated was preferred by the ruling elite in Korea and China.
During the 17th century came another development in Korean ceramics. The use of cobalt to create the much desired blue and white designs on Korean ceramics becomes popular. When it became difficult to obtain cobalt Korean crafters switched to iron brown. The countless assaults by Chinese and Japanese invaders made production of ceramic pieces all that much harder.
The Japanese
The relationship between Japan and Korea has always been a rocky one. But, it is Korea that has had the greatest influence on Japanese ceramics. “Japan’s famous Hagi ware originated when Korean potters were brought back to Japan during the ‘pottery wars’ of 1592 AD and 1597-1598 AD. (Schumacher, p1). It is well known in Japan that, although Hagi ware is uniquely Japanese, ceramic techniques were introduced to the Japanese by Koreans. In the 400 years that Hagi ware has been produced in Japan it has evolved into something that is uniquely Japanese. Japanese Hagi ware tea bowls are on display in the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Arita, Japan.
Conclusion
Korean ceramic art is a result of a historical progression of tools and techniques passed from one culture to another as well as passed down from one generation to another. It is clear that the Koreans first learned of pottery and ceramics from their northern neighbors, the Chinese. The first Chinese method of creating vessels was using the coil method. Pottery was created entirely by hand using such tools as paddles to smooth out the surface of the pot.
More techniques were passed to the Koreans by the Chinese during the Three Kingdom Period. During this period of history the Chinese introduced the pottery wheel to the Koreans. This greatly increased the production of ceramics and pottery. Another innovation introduced by china was the high-firing kiln. With this tool the Koreans moved away from crafting low firing ceramics to high-firing ceramics. This was a positive addition to the Koreans as low firing ceramics are soft and tend to break easily. High-firing kilns allowed the Koreans to produce sturdier containers.
The Koreans in turn shared ceramic techniques with their neighbor, Japan. Japanese pottery became popular as well. The sharing of techniques between these three countries over many years has brought out new tools and techniques to make better and nicer pottery. Glazing techniques have been perfected and designs were added to give the pottery beautiful exteriors.
Ceramics and pottery began as fulfilling a utilitarian purpose. After many years the art of ceramics split with the utilitarian ceramics.
High quality ceramics have been used in Buddhist ceremonies, Japanese tea ceremonies, and royal courts of the Three Kingdoms Period of history. Ceramics today also belong to two classes: utilitarian (coffee cups for example) and as art.
References
“Korea, 1–500 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web.
“Korea, 500–1000 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
“Korea, 1000–1400 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web.
“Korea, 1400–1600 A.D.“. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web.
“Korea, 1600–1800 A.D.“. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web.
“Korea, 1800–1900 A.D.”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web.
“Korea, 1900 A.D.–present”. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
Ceramic design encapsulates various types of practice from outstanding and talented makers who create valuable artifacts to product designers who introduce refined pottery and porcelain with regard to cultural and social environment. Between ancient and modern ceramic work, there is a great gap due to the social and political changes that are constantly occurring. Nevertheless, ceramic design culture has still managed to preserve its aesthetic value for each country.
Aesthetic judgment and appreciation of works created by potters are closely connected with the past traditions and the necessity to preserve the uniqueness of each culture. In this regard, ceramic works can be considered as the bears of history and culture; they can serve as the basic artifacts for reading the history of different people of Westerns and Eastern civilizations. Therefore, it is imperative to analyze the actual significance of ceramic works with regard to aesthetic culture presented in various countries.
Describing the Main Characteristics of Ceramic Design in Various Countries
Eastern Ceramics
Ceramic design in Eastern cultures has always been marked by the cuteness of styles and techniques. This particularly concerns Chinese pottery and porcelain and the rise of cuteness in Japan, or the advent of “kawai culture” in the second half of the twentieth century. Although ceramic design culture dates far back to ancient times, the modern tendencies in contemporary design have still preserves the main peculiarities of Eastern culture (Marshal Cavendish Corporation, 2007, p. 1034).
It should be stressed that both Japanese and Chinese potter design has a rich tradition and heritage. Hence, even current trends in Japanese ceramic design reflect the nobility and aesthetic sensibility of the past times, yet with the introduction of modern trends (Sosnovsky, 1999, p. 22).
In comparison with others pottery designs, Japanese pottery developed to the highest level of aesthetic appreciation. Special significance to Japanese pottery was given in the appearance of tea ceremony. The potters produced various objects, such as kabin, hand-held censers, and suiteki (Sosnovsky, 1999, p. 23).
Chinese Porcelain (Chinese Ceramics Part II, 2009).
In comparison with Japanese potters, Chinese ceramic ware became popular much earlier, in Paleolithic era (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2007). It is also known for its refined porcelain whose production flourished during the Song Dynasty. There were different techniques in producing porcelain in various historic periods. Nowadays, Jingdezhen is considered to be the main center of ceramic art and design together with Guangdong Chaozhou and Dehua.
Indian pottery also has a great value for the people for the people’s traditions and culture. Like Japanese pottery, its development originates from the Neolithic period during which the pottery was represented by “palegrey, red, orange, or pale-red, brown, pale brown, or reddish-brown and black and cream slipped wares…” (Gupta, 1988 p. 18).
Indian potters make use of pottery wheel techniques and create vases and vessels of various forms (Indian Potter, 2008). The Indian potters resort to various techniques for manufacturing different pots such as pressing, scooping, coiling, molding, or throwing (Lemonnier 1993, p. 160).
Italian ceramic ware (European Pottery, n .d)
Western and European trends of ceramic design
In the course of world’s pottery-making history, it was possible to pursue different trends and styles in making ceramic ware. The concentration of potter production was influenced by major trade routes in the Eastern region, including Eastern ports of Europe (Hopper, 2000, p. 48).
Through these trade routes, the craft was gradually transferred to the Mediterranean region. Therefore, European ceramic production was largely affected by Chinese and Japanese pottery, which became popular and fashionable. Until 19th century, the European pottery craft fell into several categories: tin-glazed earthenware, lead-glazed earthenware, stoneware, soft and hard porcelain, stoneware, and bone china. (Hooper, 2000, p. 50)
Describing the Differences in Ceramic Designs Culture in Various Countries
Roseville Pottery.
Although the European ceramic design has been influenced by Eastern trends, there are still some differences and shift in trends and styles development. The explicit differences could be already viewed in the end of the 19th with the foundation of the Roseville Pottery Company, which began the production of utilitarian pottery (About Roseville Pottery, 2010). It specialized in the production of stoneware, flower pots, cuspidors, umbrella stands that were of the highest quality. It should be stressed that the company gave priority to producing commercially beneficial pottery, although aesthetic conception was also of great value.
When discussing the major difference between Asian and European ceramics, it is purposefully to pay attention to timing and historic circumstances. Indeed, Chinese, together with Japanese and Indian ceramics refer to ancient times. The Eastern culture has a much richer history of development, specifically for China and Japan where ceramic was closely related to traditions, rites, and ceremonies.
In contrast, European craft was primarily developed for practical purposes. Specifically, Chinese pottery also played an important role in various ceremonies and customers. According to the rise of pottery in China is closely connected with Song ceramics and its aesthetic trends.
Evaluating the Differences in Culture of Ceramic Design
According to Pierson (2007), “interest in earlier Chinese ceramics, as opposed to porcelain, coincided with the development of the studio pottery movement in English and the craft ideal associated with this” (p. 114). In this regard, Chinese pottery presented ideal images and trends in the craft; it personified high quality and impeccable forms, symmetry and equilibrium.
Therefore, Chinese ceramic ware harmonized with philosophic and cultural views on the Chinese people who strived to harmony and reconciliation. They gave priority to aesthetics as the main essence of life. Therefore, the Chinese ceramics was highly appreciated in Western and European countries where pottery was considered as an object of aesthetic art, but not as an object that could be utilized.
Nevertheless, trends in European potter ware highly affected by the Eastern development. In particular, the potters were trying to imitate the forms and ingredients. In the 20th century, the dominant ceramic aesthetics was primarily connected with the idea of visual harmony based on using simple materials and hand-making tools. Later, the art of ceramics was primarily aimed at striking the balance between aesthetics and practical use.
Conclusion
A brief analysis of ceramic art and design in various countries provides a clearer picture of differences and similarities of people’s attitude to this craft. In particular aesthetic appreciation of the works produced by potters is closely associated with past traditions, ceremonies. Each country and culture strive to introduce unique features to their nation and historical heritage.
In this regard, ceramic has much in store for historians to disclose the essence of Eastern and Western understanding of aesthetics. Hence, the presented overview of designs and techniques show that Eastern civilizations, particularly China and Japan gave great important to aesthetic representation and cultural concepts. In contrast, Western civilization are more considered as the followers of those aesthetic values.
Even though in the XXI century, graphic art has started regaining popularity among the general audience, the art of ceramics seems to have been long forgotten nowadays. Thankfully, artists like Steve Tobin keep reminding about the potential of ceramics as a tool for artistic expression.
Combining the time-honored traditions of ceramics art with some of the most extraordinary approaches, Tobin manages to not only shock the viewers into paying attention, but also create the mind-benders that make the viewers reflect on some of the key philosophical dilemmas of the XXI century.
Although Steve Tobin is known as a sculptor in a more general sense and works with a range of different materials and tools, it is his use of ceramics as the basic material for artworks that have made him famous all over the world. What makes Tobin’s work so fantastic is the unusual approach towards creating a unique mood for each of the artworks.
For example, his most recent creation rendered the issue of nature and its tremendous power that people cannot have any possible control. Called “Exploding Earth,” it was created with the help of ceramics and explosives, which already is a very peculiar blend of artistic tools.
As Tobin explained, the fragments that had been created with the help of the explosion revealed a unique palette of colors, which resulted from a chemical reaction between the ceramics, the explosives and the temperature as the catalyst: “These colors all come from the explosive” (Barrett 0:4:38–0:4:40).
It is also quite impressive that Tobin does not shy away from prompting discussions on religious issues, which his fascinating Trinity Root (Tobin para. 3) is a graphic example of. The weird shape of the magnificent ceramic installation seems carved out of the world of the surreal and placed into the realm of the ordinary.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to claim that in Tobin’s work, the priority is given to form, whereas the meaning is shifted into the background. Quite on the contrary, the artist has managed to locate the point of a delicate balance between the two, which is very rare for modern ceramic sculpture artists. As Perreault explains, “Some current ceramics seem more obsessed with technical chic than with action” (Perreault 63).
Tobin, on the contrary, manages to breathe new life into the objects that he uses in his installations, and always makes sure that the technology used in the process of art creation should not reduce the significance of the idea behind the artworks. However, Tobin also makes very efficient use of modern technology, which the exploded Earth shows in a rather graphic way.
With the range of opportunities that the technological breakthrough has opened for artists of the XXI century, the art of ceramics allows for pushing the envelope and offering a new way of looking at well-trodden ideas, which Steve Tobin is perfectly aware of (Grande para. 1). Tobin creates the artworks that help look at such ideas as the creation of the world, the wonders of nature, etc. from a different angle.
The world needs more of Steve Tobin and his works. Being anything but conventional, they allow looking at the elements of the ordinary from a different angle, thus, helping the audience spot a range of details that have passed unnoticed before.
Ani Kasten is an artist creating amazing ceramics. Her works can be items for exhibition, but they can also be functional. At the same time, her functional works are all pieces of art. The artist creates simple objects which convey really important ideas.
It is necessary to note that it is not easy to see the major message of the artist when looking at her works. It may seem that the artist tries to create a feeling of antiquity or history. Nonetheless, her message is more meaningful. In her works, Ani Kasten recreates nature and natural course of life and makes viewers think about this life circle.
Her collection of functional forms deserves special attention. These are objects used in people’s everyday life (“Portfolio: Functional Forms”). The artist uses natural materials. A lot of her works are made of stoneware with slips and glazes. Moreover, the artist tries to make her items as natural as possible. The objects are of different shapes which are very natural. There are no perfect forms and shapes.
All items are unique use as anything in the world of nature. The artist is fascinated by nature, and she tries to make viewers appreciate nature as well. It is quite amazing that the artist manages to recreate different curves which are often seen in nature. It seems that the pieces of the collection are not man-made. It may seem that they were simply taken from nature (from forests and seas).
As has been mentioned above, it seems that her works are pieces of the antique world, which were found by archeologists some years ago. However, the main idea of Ani Kasten is to show the natural course of life. According to Ani Kasten, she wants to show “the cycle of life, death, decay” and “the nature of change” (“Artist’s Statement”). Her works’ shapes and colors which are used to show decay and change.
The shape of each work is as unique as an individual’s life. People are all different, and there can be no perfect thing or person. When looking at the items, it is obvious that each curve can be beautiful as perfect things are often quite predictable, which is not good for real life.
The artist uses such colors as white, grey, and black. These are colors which show clarity and simplicity. The unique form and “clear” colors show that people are also very different as they are part of the world. The colors also show that it is easy to see the world in black and white.
People should not think of meaningless things as it is easy to see the most important concepts, such as life and death, development, and decay. This is a strong and evoking message as each piece makes the viewer think.
Kasten’s works show that it is natural to change. The artist tries to tell people that the circle of life is natural and beautiful. It is clear that people should not be afraid of change or aging. There is beauty in everything, even in decay. Moreover, people cannot prevent aging or change as it is a natural course of things.
Thus, there is no need in trying to prevent it. When looking at her works, people can learn how to accept the world as it is. Thus, her works may make a lot of people happier or more satisfied with their lives.
Pottery is an ancient art form that dates back to prehistoric times and has spanned the entire globe. It is so old and so prevalent that ancient cultures, of which we know very little, remain identified today by the pottery they produced. Generally speaking, ceramics is a term used today to denote any type of clay used to fabricate shapes that are then hardened with the use of heat. It can be made of a variety of materials that provide it with texture and weight, formed into any shape that can be as functional as a pitcher or as non-functional as an abstract statue. It can be mixed with particular minerals to provide it with a certain color or pattern or it can be painted and glazed to provide more control over the material. At one time, the ability to create pottery meant the difference between a group of people starving or being able to store food, carry water, or do any number of things.
Now, numerous other materials can be used for these purposes and ceramics seemed to have gone out of style. However, in some areas of the world, ceramics as an art form was never abandoned and in the present day, ceramics has seen a comeback in the art world.
Ceramics in Japan
Japan is one of those areas of the world that never wholly abandoned its appreciation and exploration into the art of ceramics.
“Nowhere is there as great an appreciation for the potter’s art as in Japan. Many competitions are held on both national and local levels and are widely reported in the press. Success in these contests is often critical for the artist’s career and plays no small part in what he can charge for his work. Exhibitions occur regularly in the most prestigious of venues, where collectors compete for the finest pieces” (Singer, 2004). The appreciation and knowledge of ceramics in Japan are astounding compared to Western traditions particularly as ancient forms are explored and incorporated into new ideas and new approaches. However, it was Western influences following World War II that brought Japan’s ceramics workers out of their more traditional molds and into the world of exploration and innovation. With this new attitude, groups such as the Sodeisha Group were formed that enabled further exploration into the art and expression of ceramics without any necessary emphasis on function, tradition, or form. One of the pioneers of this approach was Isamu Noguchi.
Isamu Noguchi’s creativity
Although Noguchi did not work primarily in ceramics, perhaps known much more for his larger sculptures, his impact within the world of ceramics was profound. Within his lifetime, he watched the world fall apart as America lived in the waged war against the Japan of his childhood and ancestry. In attempting to find his identity within these oppositions, pottery emerged as the connecting link. While much of his other work was produced in New York, his ceramics were all made in Japan. “But for Noguchi, the link between ceramics and Japan was more than a matter of access to specific materials and techniques. In 1952 he wrote, ‘I have only made pottery in Japan, never elsewhere.
I think the earth here and the sentiment here are suited to pottery’” (Cort & Winther-Tamaki, 1). At the same time that he was making a profound connection with the earth of his homeland, though, Noguchi was also perhaps inadvertently making a connection between the ancient materials of the past and the new materials of the future as his forms frequently took on characteristics of his other mediums – metal, plastics, and industrial compounds.
While much of Noguchi’s work is traditionally interpreted to reflect the artist’s reconnection with his roots and the earth of his birthplace, it can also be seen to bridge the gap between the old and the new approaches to art, craft, and the ancient ways. The height of his ceramic work coincides with the Sodeisha Group and helped to inform the new generation of pottery workers, forming a link between the techniques of the past and the expressions of the future even as his very existence bridged national borders to introduce international ways of thinking into nationalistic traditions and beliefs. The purpose of this exhibition, then, is to provide a glimpse into the artwork of Isamu Noguchi and illustrate the various ways this artwork has served as a bridge between multiple worlds.
Figure 1. Tiger (Tora) by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988). Japan, Kita Kamakura, 1952. Unglazed Kasama red stoneware, 25.7 x 37.5 x 13.7 cm (10-1/8 x 14-3/4 x 5-3/8 in.). Signed “no, ’52” on base. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Mrs. Leon Sloss Fund Purchase.
“Tiger” is a small free-standing piece that captures the essence of the animal it’s named for without actually pictorially representing it. Generally, the piece consists of a flat, hollow ovoid shape standing on four tiny legs. The legs are not symmetrical from side to side, but they are matched from front to back on each side. This gives the piece a sense of motion, as well as stability as the two legs on the forward side, appear to be in motion, reaching slightly forward while the two legs on the far side appear to be much more solid pegs, firmly rooted into the ground.
The ovoid shape is pierced in the center by what might best be described as stalactites and stalagmites, which reach to connect in the center. Only one of these pairings does so, however, and the effect is of a mouthful of teeth aching to come together. The top of this ovoid shape is decorated with a series of upwardly projecting curved and blunted points reminiscent of alert ear movements, peering eyes, and an upright tail, completing the impression of a hunting dangerous wild cat of the primeval forest without ever actually including a specific reference point.
In its unglazed stoneware condition, this piece represents the pottery of the past and the undeveloped treatment of the technique. It is constructed of unglazed Kasama red stoneware, which was known for its utilitarian structure. “The Kasama kilns made sturdy everyday vessels such as storage jars, mixing mortars and teapots” (Kogeikai, 2004). In this unfinished condition, primitive imagery and traditional material, Noguchi has managed to imbue his piece with a strong sense of the past and the ancient arts.
However, in his choice of form and symbolism, he is undeniably working out of a more modern conception, focusing upon the impression rather than the depiction and conveying the emotions rather than the picture.
Figure 2. War (Senso) by Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988). Japan, Kita Kamakura, 1952. Unglazed Shigaraki stoneware, 71.5 x 33.0 x 31.5 cm (28 1/8 x 13 x 12 3/8 in.). Sogetsu Art Museum, Tokyo.
This piece depicts a traditional Japanese war helmet with a few stylistic liberties taken. The helmet is too conical to have been of much use in protecting a warrior’s head and includes impractical features that would have made waging battle nearly impossible. The helmet stands on its own, resting easily upon three ‘feet’, thin, wedge-like shapes that retain a sense of their function in the small curved elements toward the base. Geometrically patterned raised horizontals and verticals elongate the helmet’s appearance even as they serve to point the way toward an almost indiscernible face grill that again seems too small and improperly placed for actual use or true representation. Most striking about the piece, though, is that despite its clean lines and purposeful structure, it features two appendages that seem to serve no purpose but to call attention to themselves. The first of these is an inverted and heavily blunted ax-like wedge at the crown of the helmet, seeming to suggest the shape of the ax-head as it cleaves out of the head. The other is a circular tab at the side serving no particular purpose at all.
The lack of purpose and direction seems to be the overriding theme of this piece. Made of unglazed Shigaraki stoneware, it again reverts to the ancient materials and highlights the pointlessness of creating a helmet out of such easily breakable materials. Shigaraki stoneware is characterized by its rough, orange-firing clay and a characteristic rustic appearance (Kogeikai, 2004). At no point does the helmet appear to be useful or helpful to the soldier unfortunate enough to be required to wear it. It is cumbersome and improperly proportioned for the human head and features elements with no obvious intended purpose at all.
Produced during his final period of ceramics-making, the helmet is undeniably a reflection of what was learned in the war just past as well as a connection between this and the history of the ancients.
Figure 3. Ie Lai Chian (Ri Ko Ran) by Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988). Japan, Kita Kamakura, 1952. Shigaraki stoneware with Iga glaze; wooden base, 49.5 x 26.0 x 17.5 cm (19 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 6 7/8 in.). The Isamu Noguchi Foundation, Inc., New York.Figure 4. My Mu (Watashi no mu) by Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988). Japan, Seto, 1950. Unglazed Seto red stoneware, 34.3 x 24.1 x 16.8 cm (13 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.). The Isamu Noguchi Foundation, Inc., New York.
Cort, Louise Allison & Winther-Tamaki, Bert. Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics: A Close Embrace of the Earth. California: University of California Press, 2003.
Based on differences and similarities of European and Chinese ceramics such as the temperature of firing, the technique of production, and design, it seems appropriate to compare two artifacts of the vessel and the porcelain belonging to Chinese and European ceramics respectively.
The historical path of Chinese ceramics development goes back to several millennia. That period of Song Dynasty was very intense and aimed at improving the quality of the vessel and the glaze and at the search for new forms and artistic techniques (Hetherington 24). Ceramic products of that time directly reflected in their forms the interaction of Chinese culture with other countries such as India, and, perhaps, plenty of others expressed in elements of foreign culture.
Figure 1. Vessel of Song Dynasty period.
For example, the represented vessel resembles the outlines of the Greek amphora or the other exotic specimen (Figure 1). Several spar glazes requiring firing at high temperatures including white, brown, gray, purple, black, and green colors appeared. They were distinguished by high brightness and often imposed spots next to each other giving a colorful effect. The vessel illustrates the pattern of the engraving of reach coating glaze with the help of the thin tool.
Forms of Song Dynasty have an amazing simplicity, tranquility, and steadiness. The greatest achievement in ceramics of that period is perfection, which was used in the decoration of exclusively ceramic opportunities offered by the material (Fang 59). In this connection, the vessel reflects the most simplicity in its form. The significant point is that Song Dynasty ceramics used improved spar glazes purchasing muted color and the richness of the most delicate shades of red, purple as well as the infinite gradation of blue.
The equally essential elements of ceramics of that period that enlivens the shades of glaze are cracks covering the majority of products. Probably appeared by accident as a defect during firing, cracks were diversified into production and used for decorative purposes as one of the methods of the product decoration (“Over 1000 Pieces of Chinese Japanese and European Ceramics and Porcelain” par. 1). For a time of Song Dynasty, in contrast to subsequent periods, a great number of ceramics workshops that existed in almost all the provinces should be noted.
It goes without saying that the porcelain was invented in China. For two centuries, Chinese emperors were the exclusive distributors in the medieval world. However, Chinese ceramics recipe was kept in secret, and Europeans had no choice but open their own recipe of making the porcelain. In 1707-1708, Johann Friedrich Bottger began to conduct experiments on the creation of porcelain that resulted in the creation of the so-called red porcelain (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Porcelain of Bottger period.
Bottger’s ceramics got its name only in the XX century. Initially, the raw material was supplied from Dresden neighborhoods (“Blue: Cobalt to Cerulean in Art and Culture” 116). It is assumed that the mixture consisted of a third of the clay mined from the nearby Grosser Garden and two-thirds of the bolus (Prak and Zanden 225). The natural iron oxide was added to give a more intense red-brown shade. Subsequently, the raw material was supplied from other areas.
As a result of the high temperature firing, ceramics with shade from light to dark reddish brown was received (“Philadelphia Museum of Art – Collections” par. 1). The high hardness of the material assumed that it can be treated as glass or precious stones being polished or cut. These methods of surface treatment of the material and its characteristics has led to the fact that porcelain of that time became associated with semi-precious stones that were mined in the area, and his contemporaries gave it the name of the Jaspisporcelain.
First of all, discussed European and Chinese ceramics are distinguished by the temperature of firing. European ceramics contains more kaolin and requires hotter temperatures during firing, namely 1200-1300 C adding some transparency to it. Therefore, European porcelain was painted over the glaze. Eastern ceramics contains less kaolin than European one and fired at less hot temperatures of 800C. It allowed applying a range of colors after the first firing and avoiding a glaze painting.
What is more, there is a difference in the way of the ceramics production. To make the dough plasticity of porcelain, Chinese handymen left it for mature and intensively stirred. Sometimes, the dough was kept for several decades. The vessels were made on a potter’s wheel, but primarily compression-molded or sculpted by hand. At the same time, Europeans made the porcelain from the newly extracted raw material.
In addition, Chinese and European ceramics were under the influence of each other. Plenty of artifacts might be considered as containing elements or references to the other culture. As it was discussed above, Chinese vessel comprises the reference to the Greek culture. It should also be noted that early Bottger’s ceramics and porcelain were Chinese copies of objects.
In conclusion, it should be stressed that the paper discusses the peculiarities of European and Chinese ceramics on the example of two artifacts of Song Dynasty and Bottger’s ceramics. As a result, it was stated that there are such differences between European and Chinese ceramics as the temperature of firing and technique of production as well the similarity of designs.
Works Cited
“Blue: Cobalt to Cerulean in Art and Culture.” Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, MA: 2011. Print.
Fang, Lili. Chinese Ceramics, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2011. Print.
“Over 1000 Pieces of Chinese Japanese and European Ceramics and Porcelain.”GUEST & GRAY. Web.
“Philadelphia Museum of Art – Collections.” Philadelphia Museum of Art. Web.
Prak, Maarten Roy, and J. L. Van. Zanden. Technology, Skills and the Pre-modern Economy in the East and the West, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2013. Print.
The paper at hand is aimed at comparing and contrasting two artifacts. They are two porcelain vases created in 18-19th century. Whatever paradoxical it might seem, the subjects that belong to the same time period have completely different designs. It is assumed that this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that their designs refer to different ceramic traditions: the Orient ceramic school and the Western ceramics. It is presumed that these traditions have many distinguishing features that make them rather different than alike.
The first subject is a painted porcelain vase that dates back to the 19th century. Historians cannot indicate the particular artist who created its design, though it is currently known that the vase was produced in either Guangdong or Canton province in the South of China.
The vase is a representative of the Oriental Ceramic school. It is designed in a classic Chinese style that is famous for its simple and conservative shapes (Leidy 2015). The vase is rather big and massive; in the meantime its shape is stream-line. In other words, no curved line or flection contradicts the harmony of the composition. Another distinguishing feature of this style is the abundance of minor details in the painted pattern. Thus, it is takes one long to distinguish all the minor elements of the surface painting.
Such vases perform few functions. Instead, people would purchase them for the purpose of decorating their houses. Chinese porcelain has always been a costly ware so it would serve to be a luxurious interior design item. Such vases are still rather expensive; nevertheless, they are considered to be an exquisite element of décor (Pierson 2009).
The vase is made of the high-quality Chinese porcelain. Its surface is covered with glazed enamels. It has a colorful design, though the general color palette is rather restrained. A warm color palette is evidently prevailing. The paintings that cover the vase illustrate the scenes from the everyday life of the relevant period. The scenes are depicted in details; looking at them, one might have an impression of studying a masterpiece in an art gallery. On the one side, there is a picture of a feast: there is a long table full of food and drinks, and people entertaining themselves. On the other side, there is a picture of a general near the city wall.
The second subject is the copy of the Portland Vase made by Josiah Wedgwood at the end of the 18th century. Josiah Wedgwood was a famous English potter who has performed significant contribution to the development of pottery industrialization in Great Britain. His other famous works are Jasperware “Horse Frightened by a Lion” and the black vase on the stand. Wedgwood was not the first one to copy the Portland Vase. Meanwhile, history has shown that his attempt turned out to be the most successful.
The vase is designed in the classic Roman style. In fact, the Portland Vase appeared in Rome between the first and the second AD. Initially, they were made of cameo glass, and their surface was covered with the depiction of some mythological scenes (Whitehouse 2003). These depictions are still the matter of debate in the expert community.
The Portland Vase has no functional purpose – it was used as the decoration element of the interior. As well as the first vase, this element of décor refers to the luxury type.
The vase is designed in a blue color palette. Cold tones are dominating over the warm pallet. The painting that covers the vase illustrates white silhouettes that color of which contrast with the background. Presumably, it is the mythological characters depicted. Some scholars believe that one of the silhouettes is the figure of the ancient God of Love, Cupid (Whitehouse 2003). Unlike the illustration on the first vase, this painting is not detailed – the depicted objects have fuzzy outlines.
The vases belong to the relatively similar historical periods, but their visual concepts have a lot of differences. The design of the oriental vase contains more colors that do not contrast one with another, contrary to the white-blue color palette in the second vase. In addition, the painting on the western vase is less detailed than the carefully depicted illustrations on the oriental vase. The shape of the western vase is sophisticated while that of the oriental vase is simple and unpretentious.
As a result, the oriental ceramic is more elaborate in its design – its surface paintings can compete with classic oil paintings in terms of details and tones. In the meantime, it is simpler in its shapes than the western style.
The analysis of the two vases has shown that these items have more differences than similarities notwithstanding the fact that they belong to the similar epoch. Thus, the oriental ceramic tradition showed detailed surface painting and subdued color tones. The western ceramic school, on the contrary, showed vague surface illustrations and contrasting palette. In addition, the Western Vase has a more complicated shape whereas that of the Orient Vase is streamline and simple.
Reference List
Leidy, DP 2015, How to Read Chinese Ceramics, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.
Pierson, S 2009, Chinese Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Whitehouse, D 2003, Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, Hudson Hills, New York, New York.
Ceramic art is a form of art with a long history in many parts of the world. It refers to making object such as tableware, tiles and figures from clay and other raw materials through the pottery process. The products that result from this process are categorized as fine art, decorative, industrial or applied art and the archeologists refer to them simply as artifacts.
The word ceramic is derived from a Greek word “keramos” or potter’s clay which means the objects are made from clay and burned in a kiln to get the finished product. With technological development, new processes have been adopted to make ceramic objects, and the term are now used to refer to a broad array of objects made of many materials such as glass and cements and, therefore, clay is no longer the key constituent (Byars, 2004).
Though other materials have been adopted to replace clay in making ceramics, there is no difference between pottery and ceramics as Peterson (2000) says.
They both use the basic process of forming, firing or baking in a kiln. Campbell (2006) says that fine art ceramics or pottery is different from crafts in that fine arts are artistic objects of ceramic or pottery made for their visual or aesthetic appeal while crafts, though they might be visually appealing, are functional and made primarily using a formula or a technique.
However, these definitions are not absolute as some works can be both aesthetic and functional. Applied art, on the other hand, refers to artistically designed and produced objects that have functional value for everyday use. These could be machine produced with a design, which makes it easy to use and more attractive; or they could be made individually by a skilled artist or skilled workers for aesthetics and functionality.
Pottery was the earliest form of ceramic art where ports were made by the coiling method and modeled into shapes with smooth walls. Decorating of clay work was found in archeological works of many civilizations. Ceramic art is associated with the prestigious, modern sculpture and metalwork. The early Ancient and Chinese and Roman era’s had their ceramics incorporating both ceramic-ware and pottery.
These were common in forms of containers such as vessels, tableware, and bowls, also in figurines which were extremely common. The Venus of Dolni Vestonice, which is a statute of a nude female, is considered the earliest known fine art ceramic sculpture found in the Czech Republic.
The celadon glaze, which was first made during the Han Dynasty between 206 BCE and 220 CE, made Chinese ceramics highly exceptional. This technique involved creating a high-iron mixture which, during firing would produce various shades of green (Campbell 2006).
In modern ceramic art, artists such as Beatrice Wood, American artists experimented and developed a unique form of luster-glaze technique during her career spanning from 1930s to 1998 when she died at the age of 105. Another modern artist is Bernard Leach whose work emerged as the standard for gauging other works (Peterson, 2000).
Beatrice Wood
Early life
She was a prominent modern artist, craftsperson and writer known for her shimmering pots and her long, remarkable life spanning the course of the 20th century with her work being inspired by the figures that shaped her life. She combined a wide range of influences in her work such as the spirit of Dadaism, modernity, Eastern philosophy, folk art and ornament of ethnic jewelry, which made her work unique.
Before she discovered her true vocation at the age of 40 years, she had engaged in painting, drawing, writing and theatre. This led her to many places where she met many people and got many experiences, things that are all reflected in her ceramic works (Naumann, 1997).
Beatrice Wood was born in San Francisco to a wealthy and aristocratic family in 1893. At the age of five years, the family moved to New York City and her family especially her mother started preparing her for her ultimate “coming out” into New York society.
For this reason, she was sent to the convent in Paris for a year beside an enrollment to a stylish finishing school and summer trips to Europe where she visited art galleries, museums and theatre.
She was widely exposed to art and yearned to run away to France which charted the direction of her life as she thwarted her mother plans for “coming out” into the society and leading a structured life of the aristocratic and proper lady as expected of her.
In 1912, the year she was supposed to come out at the age of 16, she rejected the coming out party organized for her and announced that she wanted to be a painter. Her mother decided that if that was what she wanted, it would be done properly, so she was sent to France to study painting at the Academy Julian in Paris albeit with a chaperon.
She soon got bored with the school and moved to Giverny, the home town of Monet, and started painting on canvasses in an attic. Her mother soon arrived in France and into her attic and dragged her to Paris where her attention shifted to theatre (Naumann, 1997).
Beatrice’s mother again wanted things to be done properly. She thus enrolled her for private lessons in acting and dancing with the members of the Comedie-francaise. It was during this time that her famous appearance on stage with leading stars then, such as Sarah Bernhardt happened. Her Paris theatre career was short-lived as political turmoil’s and onset of World War I in Europe appeared, and she had to return to New York.
Despite her mother discouragement to continue a stage career in New York, Beatrice went ahead and joined the French National Repertory Theatre mainly due to her fluency in French.
She played over sixty roles in the ingénue under an assumed name, Mademoiselle Patricia, to protect her family’s name and reputation. The inspiration for this theatre career was mainly to earn money and become independent from her interfering family (Peterson, 2000).
It is during this period of her acting in New York that she met Marcel Duchamp through a friend and hit it off quickly. Marcel Duchamp was a famous painter and his work such Nude Descending a Staircase considered as the modern influence on modernization of painting.
Through Duchamp, Beatrice also met Henri-Pierre Roche who was a renowned writer, diplomat and art collector and the three of them became close friends. This friendship also inspired, influenced and encouraged her in her creative pursuits.
They also introduced her to the Bohemian lifestyle where bourgeois morality was not a topic for much thought as they were lovers and friends whose in Beatrice’s own words wanted to be as close physically as they were emotional (Naumann, 1997).
Beatrice was soon to find herself in the New York Dada group under the patronage of Walter and Louise Arensberg. The Arensberg hosted frequent high class social gatherings in their lavish art adorned home, where the three friends spent lively evenings.
This was essentially an intellectual bohemian group comprising of modern artists and art collectors such as Edgard Varese, Mina Loy, Charles Demuth and Joseph Stella among others. In this group, Beatrice was inspired to paint and started her painting career around this period. They worked together with Duchamp in his studio, and he published her work in a magazine.
She developed her lifelong unique style of spontaneous sketching and painting that marks her work (Dietz, 2003). She exhibited her work in the independence exhibition that was organized by the newly formed Society of Independent Artists in 1917.
Her work created an outrage together with that of his friend Duchamp, but in an essay to the The Blind Man journal, she defended the work which became an icon of modern art.
By this time, Beatrice had already tired of her mother’s interference on her acting, and in 1918, she ran away to Montreal, Canada and continued to act. She married a theatre manager named Paul, a marriage that lasted three years.
After losing interest in theatre, she went back to New York to find her friends had gone and the Dada group dissolved. It is during this time that she met Dr Annie Besant of the Theosophical Society and Jiddu Krishnamurti and moved to Los Angeles to start a new life close to her friends, the Arsenburgs and Krishnamurti (Naumann, 1997).
Becoming a potter
Beatrice accompanied her friend Krishnamurti to Holland where he went occasionally to speak with the Theosophical Society regularly. While there she bought a beautiful set of baroque dessert plates with an excellent luster. She wanted a tea pot to match but could not find it; it marked the most extraordinary phase of her life as she took an interest in pottery.
She was determined she would be the one to make a matching pot for her plates and enrolled into a ceramic course at Hollywood High School in 1933. She painstakingly learned the glaze chemistry and throwing pots and a short time later opened her first artisan shop on Sunset Boulevard where she made and sold her ceramics.
At first it was a way of surviving since she brought no money from home, but she also realized her avenue for artistic interests and energy. Her mastery and inspiration for pottery and the art of glazing came from her teacher Glen Lukens who was a renowned artist and teacher, and from her most influential mentors, Gertrud and Otto Natzler whom she met through Lukens.
The Natzlers were famous for their refined skills and technical knowledge in glazing which they patiently shared with Wood. Her career started to take off after some time which created a rift between her and the Natzlers as they thought she was using their forms and glazes, but critics say that her work is remarkably different from the Natzlers.
Her work is said to be loose, unconventional, experimental in form and glaze combination and coincidental as compared to the Natzlers’ based on mastery of technique. This relationship was never mended, and as Wood say she was always saddened by this (Peterson, 2000).
By 1947, Wood’s work had been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York. She was also selling to leading departmental stores such as Gumps, Marshal Fields and Neiman Marcus and due to this success she decided to settle permanently in Ojai, a neighborhood with many artists and actors including her friend Krishnamurti.
Her friendship with Vivika and Otto Heino also contributed to her success in pottery as they taught her mastery of throwing and shared their knowledge and skills in Glazing. While she moved to Ojai she also started teaching ceramics at Happy Valley School (Dietz, 2003).
Wood was a exceptionally fun of Krishnamurti, her friend and neighbor, and read many of his books as well as listened many of his speeches in Europe.
This influenced her outlook on life as well as other experiences of her life. All these experiences were in evidence in her ceramics that combined the positivity of the East, a strong ethical work, a Dadaist sense of romance and humor in view of life to produce stunning unique creations. This also is the reason she never retired and worked in her studio until at the age of 104 (Campbell, 2006).
In 1974 she built a house on the grounds of Happy Valley Foundation in Ojai. On this 450 acre, parcel of land, wood built not only a home but also a studio where a wide collection of her own work, a library and collection of Folk art still is on display and which was left to the Happy Valley Foundation. Her ceramics of bowls, vessels and sculpture, have a significant influence on modern art.
Critics also say that these works also drift her work from art and craft fields as much as they influenced them. As much as Wood’s works fall under craft, design and decorative arts, their figurative nature also embraced a deliberate sense of naivety that is unique to her.
They bring out her composition that is connected with her wide range of modes of self-expression from folk art to Dadaism that had gained acceptance by other ceramicists over the year. This unconventional quality in her works claiming to be deliberate, was influenced by Marcel Duchamp as she acknowledged.
This fact is demonstrated during a 1961 exhibition which was held in Japan where a Japanese commented on the use of color of their works. She told the Japanese that she was not Japanese, and she lived in a pink and blue house in bright sunlight demonstrating her artistic freedom (Naumann, 1997).
Another inspiration for her work came from Indian art, which influenced her use of surfaces textures, color, ornamentation and erotic imagery as Peterson (2000) says. Her love for India began in 1961 when she visited the country on a tour organized by the State department.
She would return a second time in 1965 to pouch for a manager named Ram Pravesh Singh who was the State Department employee and who served her for twenty five years. In 1972, she went to India on a third time and came home with a wide range of folk art collection and saris. Her love affair with India also influenced her personal style in dressing and jewelry.
In her late eighties, Wood become a writer when she published her first book, The Angel in Black Tights followed by her autobiography, I Shock Myself and then Pinching Spaniards and finally the 33rd Wife of a Maharajah: A Love Affair in India.
She also wrote other books using a pseudonym Lola Screwvinsky. Wood was encouraged by her friend, Anais Nin, in her writing who was a ardent admirer of her ceramics (Dietz, 2003).
Apart from being inspired by others in her long life art career, she has inspired many artists and writers in different fields such as cinema and writing. Henri-Pierre’s book, Jules and Jim, which was an outstanding success, is said to have been inspired by the friendship he shared with Wood and Marcel Duchamp earlier on in their lives.
This was later made into a successful film by Francois Truffaut. On her 100th birthday, a film directly referring to her by the name of Beatrice Wood: The Mama of Dada premiered. David Cameron of the film Titanic is another film director who used Wood to inspire one of his characters, Rose in the same film.
This film was shown towards the end of her life, and since she could not attend the event, Cameron and Gloria Stuart, who played Rose, brought her a video which she refused to watch saying that it was too late to change something in her life (Dietz, 2003).
What is most inspiring about Wood is that the most productive years of her life were the last 25 as she worked extremely hard to meet the demand for her ceramics, she wrote several books and attended to many people who came to see her work and learn from her at the Happy Valley Foundation.
Wood led a bohemian artist’s lifestyle but still she was a romantic who believed in “true love” as she married twice and fell in love several times. However, she would say that the only thing she could count on were the mountains near her home in Happy Valley. This extra ordinary life of art, inspiration and exploration ended in 1998 when she died at the age of 105 (Peterson 2000).
Bernard Howell Leach
Early life
Leach is modern ceramic who like Wood, discovered his vocation in ceramics and pottery later in his life after trying other forms of art or career. He is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century with a life that is documented in a wide collection of papers, study collections of western and oriental pots and his own work on pots and models exhibited in the Crafts Study center, London.
Leach was born on January 5, 1887 in Hong Kong where his father, Andrew Leach, was a lawyer. His mother died soon after delivering him, and his grandparents took him to Kyoto, Japan where they were teaching English at the Doshista University.
He went back to Hong Kong later when his father remarried, and soon afterward the family moved to Singapore where his father had been appointed a judge. During this period, there is no record of his schooling, but he only states that he spent most of his time alone in the harbor drawing ships.
Leach was then sent to study at the age of ten years in England at the Beaumont, a Jesuit school, in Old Windsor Park which was then known as ‘Catholic Eton’. The school operated on a strict, ordered lines and any boy who step out of the line was given beatings which probably changed Leach’s destiny since he thought the beatings deterred rather than encouraged interest in education.
As a result, he was bad in academic subjects excelling only in drawing, elocution and cricket. There are letters he wrote to his father and step mother expressing frustrations in deciding what to do with his life (Campbell, 2006).
In 1903, Leache’s father returned to England and allowed his son to join the Slade School of Art which brought him a lot of joy. His training lasted for a year as his father got seriously ill and he had to stay with him. His father’s last wish was him to pursue a stable career in the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, that was something Leach felt obligated to do. He joined the bank and started working in its headquarters in London.
He was extremely unhappy working in the bank and after a year, he quit and moved to Doset, the North Wales where he hoped to draw and paint. Later, at the age of 21 he received his modest inheritance and used it to pay for his studies at the London School of Art in Kensington.
It is during this period in England that he met his love, his cousin Muriel, and later married her. While in the school he met a Japanese student, Kotaro Takamura, who told him a lot about the country and reminded him of his childhood. Thus, it was Takamura’s who inspired Leach to return to Japan, however, during this time he dedicated himself to teaching how to design, paint, curve wood and design magazines faces.
His etching lessons did not bring any success, but he became acquainted with a group of progressive scholars and writers known as Shirakaba. This group changed the course of Leache’s life and career and inspired him to start a career in ceramics (Byars, 2004).
Leach’s contact with and career in pottery
The raku is a technique which involves placing glazed and decorated pots into a glowing hot kiln, then removing them after around 30 minutes when the glaze has melted. The Shirakaba organized raku events where artists and poets took part in the raku and guests would take home the finished products.
The raku inspired Leach to learn the craft which took him two years under the instruction of Kenzan the sixth, Urano Shigkich, a Tokyo potter who worked with the old- fashioned Rimpa style. Leach learned how to throw, decorate and fire pots though, at the time, he had not considered it as a future career.
At the end of the two years, Leach and his fellow student Tomimoto were presented with a hand painted Densho recognizing them as the Seventh Kenzan. After his graduation from the Kenzan classes, he set up a pottery in his garden. In 1914, he successfully displayed his works which included his first booklet review of 1909-1914 works.
He became frustrated with Japan due to the embracement of westernization and moved to China leaving his family in Japan. While, in China, he met Dr Alfred Westharp, a Prussian writer, who influenced him profoundly. After the birth, of his third child, he took his family to China and family conflict erupted due to Westharp’s interference.
His son’s medical needs forced him and his family to return to England to seek medical attention in 1920. He returned to England with his wife and three children and a potter, Shoji Hamanda, whom he had brought from Japan.
They settled at St Ives and set up their craft by building a climbing and updraught kilns to make earthenware, and though their art was innovatory, it was impossible to sell their products here (Campbell, 2006).
In 1932, he started a project with Leornard and Dorothy Elmhirst on rural regeneration to set up a commercial pottery at Dartington. He got involved with another potter named Laurie Cooks, which ended his twenty four year marriage to Muriel. He continued to work in the project while still maintaining his establishment in St Ives.
Two years later he accepted an invitation to a fifteen month tour of Japan where he looked at traditional work, made pots and researched for a book. He also took an inspirational tour of Korea with Yanagi which filled him with ideas and enthusiasm. He was also inspired by Japan’s unspoilt, traditional craft and brought home the acclaimed Moon Jar.
It is during his tour of Japan that his son David was encouraged by the poor managerial situation at their St Ives pottery that he joined the North Staffordshire Polytechnic to study pottery management. He came back with radical plans, which were funded by the Elmhirsts, for the subsequent three years.
The onset of the World War II saw David being enlisted and Leach had no choice but to return to St Ives, and regardless of the war, they continued to produce pots with a small team under his direction. Between the two world war, Leach Pottery had struggled a lot financially, also with acceptance of his work in Europe.
He had built a Japanese kiln upon setting up in St Ives and during this time he was constantly rebuilding kilns, experimenting with different materials and travelling (Byars, 2004).
After the war, David returned and took over the mantle from his father and the Leach pottery went into full production. Leach had a lot of time to pursue his own ideas. He had earlier published a book, A Potter’s Book in 1940 which had been moderately successful, and now he had time to undertake a series of tours to lecturer and demonstrate.
He first took tours to the West in the Scandinavian and America where he was not valued. He returned to the East in 1952 and started with a long visit to Japan. He was professional and gave pieces of advice and opinions diverse fields from ceramics, design, furniture to cooking. He met and married Janet Darnell in 1956 and also returned home to England.
After Leach’s return to England from Japan, he made some of the most popular and strongest pieces as he concentrated on individual pots rather than running the Pottery which was left to Janet when David went to establish his own pottery in Devon.
Leach mainly concentrated on small pieces but also made big pieces with the help of David and later Bill Marshall though he was the one who always did the finishing and decorations. The pieces he made at that time show a deep perception of the form together with sensitivity.
He also displays confidence that is not excessive. His pottery was influenced by the East while at the same time displaying the softness of European awareness that blends the two cultures superbly (Peterson, 2000).
Leach as an inspiration
Leach was profoundly inspired by a lot of scholars, craftsmen and women whom he was always in contact with. There are lengthy letters in his archives that detail his long term contact with Yanagi on different topics including aesthetics.
Also, he maintained such contact with Henry Bergen where they discussed many subjects; one of them being about the book, they are arguing over the content of his book, A Potter’s book where an etiology of the evolution of the book and their thoughts are communicated. It is clear that they trusted each other.
He also inspired other artists such as Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie who was his first apprentice, Norah Braden and Dr Ryusaburo Shikiba whose communication with him were filed away in letter books.
It is no wonder that he was a spokesman for the craftsmen and women for all kinds of craft where he represented them in committees whether by the government, guilds or societies and in the Crafts Study Center. Apart from being a notable craftsman, he was also a respected, trusted and charming public speaker, and an intelligent writer (Byars, 2004).
One of the significant achievements of Leach pottery was training of potters from all the corners of world, who later contributed to spreading of Leach’s techniques and values. He also helped in organizing the only international conference of potters and Weavers in 1952 at Datington hall, which included exhibitions from all the participants.
It is here where the modern studio pottery movement began, and which made Leach and his associates, Hamada and Yanagi celebrities. He received many honors including an exhibition in 1961 by The Arts Council of Britain dubbed as the ‘Fifty Years a Potter’. Thus, being the master craftsman, his work was to be used as a gauge upon others works.
The following year he received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and before his death, Japan, a country which had interested and impacted him very much, awarded him with the Champion of Honor (CH) title in 1974 which is equivalent of Nobel Prize (Dietz, 2003).
Wood and Leach as an inspiration
Unlike Wood whose work mainly displayed her personal experiences through life and were unique unconventional pieces, that set her apart, leach’s work from 1912 to the peak of his career in 1950s and 60s show his development journey as a potter and his increasing understanding of materials he worked with. However, the influence of the East to their works is clear.
Wood got a lot of inspiration from Indian art, which influenced her use of surfaces textures, color, ornamentation and erotic imagery and even her personal style of dressing and accessorizing, and also her writings as shown by her book 33rd Wife of a Maharajah: A Love Affair in India.
Leach, on the other hand, had a lot inspiration from the Far East countries like China, Japan and Korea. It is in Japan that he came into contact with the ceramics craft in raku events and later trained under Kenzan the sixth, Urano Shigkich. His long association and work in Japan and Japanese artists show his interest and experience he got in the East.
Though both Wood and leach are influenced by art from the East, their work also displays their Western influences. Wood’s works display modes of self expression that show Dadaism influence and the unconventional quality in her work that she said was influenced by Marcel Duchamp. Leach’s works, on the other hand, display a soft European awareness (Dietz, 2003).
Both Wood and Leach did their most distinguished pieces later in their lives. Wood started learning pottery at the age of 40 after trying other forms of art. She had experimented with painting when she was young in Paris and later in New York, spent a substantial part of her life acting again in Paris and New York and finally in Montreal, Canada where her interest in acting faded.
It is the visit to Holland that brought him an interest in pottery at the age of forty. Leach also did his master pots in the 1950s and 60s when he was already advanced in years. He also tried many things such as painting, designing covers for magazines, wood cutting and travelled to many places before he found his true vocation.
It is also remarkably clear from their experiences that they are liberals who loved traveling wide and trying many things until they found their true occupations by accident as both had not envisioned a career in pottery (Peterson, 2000).
Leach concentrated on making bowls, jars, platters, tableware, vases, pots and urns which are in display, in many Museums and art galleries in the world. After his death in 1979, a large amount of his works both craft, writings and collections were passed on to the Crafts Study center.
This work was also digitized so as to improve accessibility as a body of reference including his diaries and correspondences with different people. Wood on the other had done her work in both craft and fine art.
She combined wisdom, a positive thinking, a strong work ethic, a Dadaism and romantic view of life which gave her work a unique, unconventional style that she said was unschooled but deliberate.
These two artists devoted all their love and time to their work; they continued to work and learn even when things were not good. They both worked until the end of their life (Peterson, 2000).
Conclusion
Ceramics art has a long history in many parts of the world that can be dated back to early civilizations. The raw material that was used in early ceramics was clay, but in modern ceramics, other materials are used. Ceramics is grouped as fine art, decorative ceramics or pottery and applied art. Though these are not conclusive categories, the main issue is the use into which the art is put to.
Some are just for aesthetics while others are purely functional, or they are combined both functions. Ceramics art began with the invention of the potter wheel believed to have started in Mesopotamia in the 4th century BC and spread to other parts of the world.
Ceramic art is believed to have evolved from the wealthy Chinese Dynasties such as the Shang dynasty and also in the Ancient Roman Empire where containers such as vessel, bowls, tableware and figurines were common. In modern ceramic art, pottery studios have gained popularity where artists such as Beatrice Wood and Bernard Leach have emerged.
Beatrice Wood was exposed to art in her summer trips to Europe. She longed to go to Paris and become a painter. When she later went to Europe, it was the beginning of a rebellious life as she explored different forms of art from painting to acting. It was not until she was forty that her interest and career in pottery began in Los Angeles.
She learned pottery from renowned ceramists such as Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Glen Lukens and Vivika and Otto Heino. She established her own style that was unconventional and reflected her experiences in life combined with inspiration from Indian art. She became very successful and devoted the rest of her life to pottery, writing and teaching other artists at the Happy Valley Foundation.
Bernard Leach is similar to Wood in many ways. Born in Hong Kong, but grew up in Japan, Singapore and England, he attended school and trainings in various arts. He also explored many forms of art before he accidentally took up pottery in Japan during a raku party.
Leach learned the ceramic art in Japan and became hugely successful there, but he went to China and England where he set up the Leach Pottery. Over the years, he met famous artists from all over the world such as Urano Shigkich, Shoji Hamanda, Leornard and Dorothy Elmhirst as well as SoetsuYanagi who inspired him.
Though he still maintained the Leach Pottery with the help of his son David, Leach was an extensive traveler who liked the East. Like Wood, most of his distinguished pieces were done later in his life when he had mastered the materials he worked with.
He emphasized design, philosophy and art in his works which was utilitarian unlike Woods who did fine art and craft. He died in 1979 having earned the honor and respect due to his achievements.
Reference List
Byars, M., 2004. The design encyclopedia. London: Laurence King.
Campbell, G., 2006. The grove encyclopedia of decorative arts. UK: Oxford University Press.
Dietz, U., 2003. Great pots: contemporary ceramics from functional to fantasy. USA: Guild Publishing.
Naumann, F., 1997. Beatrice wood: a centennial tribute. USA: American Craft Museum.
