25. Elise Chezem, pit-fired pot

25. Elise Chezem, pit-fired pot

For Chezem, see item 23.

Gray clay; unglazed, colors from pit-firing. Weight: 562 g (20 oz). Mouth diameter: 7.7 cm (3 in); maximum diameter: 12.7 cm (4-7/8 in); base diameter: 5 cm (2 in). Height: 14 cm (5.5 in).

This has a flat base; the center of the base was trimmed away to form a shallow concavity. The artist signed the pot with an inscribed “Elise.”  From the narrow base, the walls rise in a convex arc to the shoulders, about 9.7 cm (3-3/4 in) above the base. Above this the neck is a convex curve about 2/5 cm (1 in) tall. The diameter of the neck varies from 10 cm (4 in) at the bottom to 10.7 cm (4-1/4 in) at the widest point and 8.7 cm (3.78) at the top. The entire neck is scored with irregularly spaced, shallow, vertical grooves. The rim of the pot is a flattened, slightly concave area about 1.2 cm (1/2 in) wide, rising slightly to the wide mouth of the pot. The external body of the pot was burnished and is smooth to the touch.

This was pit-fired, resulting in colors ranging from dark black to light gray on the exterior of the pot. Most of the rim and the interior of the pot are the natural color of the clay. The top must have been covered or the pot turned upside down when the pit-firing took place; only a bit of the rim has evidence of coloring from the firing. 

The shape reminds me of Southwest Indian and Mexican pottery. The irregular scoring on the neck complements the randomness of the decoration, both of which contrast with the artist’s obvious skill in shaping the pot. 

Purchased at Peninsula Potters in Pacific Grove, California, in the early 1990s.