40. Robert Compton, large wood-fired vase

40. Robert Compton, large wood-fired vase

For Compton, see item 38.

Gray clay, yellowish-green glaze; base left unglazed. Weight: 1036 g (2.3 lb). Rim dimensions: 12 x 8.2 cm (4-3/4 x 3-1/4); maximum width: 14 cm (5-1/2 in); base diameter: 7.5 cm (3 in). Height: 19.5 cm (7-3/4 in).

Compton describes this pot as a “Korean celadon.”  Hand-thrown and then altered. This sits directly on the base. The marks of the string used to cut the pot free from the wheel are visible on the base. 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 walls of the pot rise in a gentle arc to the maximum width, which is about 15 cm (6 in) above the vase. The walls then curve inward to the rounded lip, about 18.5 cm (7-1/4 in) above the base. At the neck the pot is about 11.5 cm (4-1/2 in) wide. Two lines were incised around the circumference of the pot at about 6.5 cm (2.5 in) and 15.3 cm (6 in) above the base. After throwing, the walls and mouth of the pot were shaped into an oval. Up to the lower incised line, the pot has a circular cross-section. The oval shape extends from about this line to the lip. The artist’s mark was stamped into one side of the pot (Compton explains that the mark derives from the shape of the ceramic fountains that were his specialty early in his career).

The pot is yellowish-green in color. The glaze was allowed to run down the sides of the pots, creating streaks in some places. The glaze appears darker where it pooled in the incised areas.

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