69. Kevin Viens, miniature pot

69. Kevin Viens, miniature pot

 

Viens is a Boston-area potter. I’ve not been able to find out much about him. His pieces feature excellent shapes and a strong sense of design. The interiors of all the pots shown here were glazed in black, which seems to be a preference of his. For more examples of his work, see his page at www.feetofclaypottery.com and his website, www.kevinviensceramics.com.

Off-white clay, black glaze, red and tan slips; base left unglazed. Weight: 186 g (6.5 oz). Rim diameter: 6 cm (2-3/8 in); maximum diameter: 7 cm (2-3/4 in); base diameter: 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in). Height: 6 cm (2-3/8 in).

This sits directly on the base, which has been hollowed out to a very shallow depth. “VIENS” was incised into the base. From the base, the walls rise outward in more or less a straight line to the maximum diameter 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in) above the base. There the walls break and slant inward at a shallow angle before rising briefly to another break 4.7 cm (1-7/8 in) from the base. There is a narrow shoulder at this point, and from there the walls slant inward to the neck, which is 4.7 cm (1-7/8 in) wide and 5.7 cm (2-1/4 in) above the base. From there the walls arc upward and outward to the underside of the rim.

The base and a bit of the exterior above the base were left unglazed. A red slip was applied to the rest of the exterior. This was covered with a tan slip. The red shows through the tan just above the base and at the breaks in the exterior wall, creating narrow red circles around the circumference of the pot at these points. The red also shows through at random places. The neck and interior of the pot were covered with a thick black glaze.

For such a small object, this has a complicated shape, which the decoration outlines and emphasizes.

 Purchased at the annual winter sale Feet of Clay Pottery, Brookline, Massachusetts, December 2018.