39. Robert Compton, large, wood-fired and salt-glazed vase

39. Robert Compton, large, wood-fired and salt-glazed vase

For Compton, see item 38.

Light gray clay, green glaze, with salt-fired finish; base left unglazed. Weight: 1084 g (2.4 lb). Rim diameter: 9.5 cm (2-3/4 in); maximum diameter: 13 cm (5-1/8 in); base diameter: 7.2 cm (2-3/4 in). Height: 17.7 cm (7 in).

Hand thrown and altered. The pot sits directly on the base. The marks of the string used to cut the pot free from the wheel are visible on the bottom. For about an eighth of an inch, the sides of the pot above the base were left unglazed, and “COMPTON” was stamped into the unglazed side of the base. The pot rises in a gentle curve to the maximum diameter about 10 cm (4 in) above the base. The walls then curve inward in a sharper arc to the neck of the vessel, which is some 16 cm (6-1/4 in) above the base; the pot is about 7.7 cm (3 in) in diameter at the bottom of the neck. The pot then flares outward at a steep angle to the rim. Pairs of parallel lines running around the circumference of the vase have been incised into the pot roughly 5 cm (2 in) and 12.5 cm (5 in) above the base. Within the area defined by these lines, the shape of the pot was altered into a rough square, with slightly curved sides.  The artist’s mark was stamped into one side of the pot.

The piece is glazed both inside and out. The coverage is uneven, giving the pot a mottled appearance. There are many lighter spots. There are light red scorch marks from the wood-firing on the unglazed base of the pot. The salt-glaze is responsible for the sheen. In natural light, the color of the pot is a dark green. In some artificial light, particularly LEDs, the color ranges from gray to black.

Purchased at the artist’s studio in Bristol, Vermont, May 2017.