78. Frank Caro, built-up squarish vase

78. Frank Caro, built-up squarish vase

Frank Caro is a Boston-area potter. For other examples of his work, see www.feetofclaypottery.com.

Brown clay, dark blue and light tan glazes; bottom left unglazed. Weight: 358 g (13 oz). Rim: 6.3 x 6.7 cm (2-1/2 – 2-5/8 in); approx. width of column sides: 4.7 cm (1-7/8 in); base approx. 6.3 cm wide (2-1/2 in). Height: approx. 14.5 cm (5-3/4 in).

This piece is irregular in shape. The flat base is a rough square with rounded corners. “Caro” was incised into the base. The sides were a flat piece of clay that was shaped into a squarish column about 13.7 cm (5-3/8 in) high. The sides of the column have a series of vertical striations, beginning about 2 cm (3/4 in) from the top and continuing to almost the bottom of each side. They appear to have been made with something like a metal comb with evenly spaced teeth. The lines have slight waves in them but maintain uniform distances from their neighbors. The rim was formed from flat pieces of clay approximately 1.2 cm (1/2 in) wide pressed into the top of the column; the rim overhangs both the exterior and interior sides of the columns, forming protruding lips on all sides. The rim tilts slightly to one corner.

The bottom of the vase was left unglazed. A light brown glaze was applied to the column; it appears darker in the striations, and there are many dark speckles on the surface. The interior, the rim, and a small bit of the column just under the rim have a dark blue, almost black glaze. On the exterior under the rim, there are a few spots of lighter blue, where this glaze was thin.

Purchased at the annual spring sale at Feet of Clay Pottery, Brookline, Massachusetts, April 2019.