58. Jennifer Wyman, miniature lidded container

58. Jennifer Wyman, miniature lidded container

For Wyman, see item 54.

Light gray clay, blue glaze; base of foot ring and the edges of lid and the gallery in the bottom part left unglazed. Weight: 140 g (5 oz). Bottom part. Rim diameter: 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in); maximum diameter: 6.7 cm (2-5/8 in); foot ring diameter: 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in). Lid. Diameter: 3.5 cm (1-3/8 in). Height: overall, 7.2 cm (2-7/8 in); bottom part: 5.3 cm (2-1/8 in); lid: 1.7 cm (5/8 in).

The foot ring is 0.6 cm (1/4 in) high on the exterior. The interior has been hollowed out in a concave shape. The artist’s initials, “JSW,” are incised into the clay of the base. The walls of the pot rise upward and outward in an arc to the maximum diameter, which is 2.7 cm (1-1/8 in) above the base, and then curve inward to the rim. From just above the maximum diameter to the foot ring, the walls of the pots are scored in a series of seven, irregularly spaced concentric ridges running around the circumference. Above this area, the walls of the pot are smooth. The gallery is recessed about 0.15 cm (1/16 in) below the rim. The underside of the lid is concave. The upper side rises in an arc to meet the center post. The center knob curves slightly outward from its base to the top. The top itself has been hollowed out in a concave shape. A circular ridge was scored on the upper side of the lid. The lid sits very securely in place.

The lower half of the bottom part was covered with a gray slip, as was the interior of the foot ring. The upper part of bottom section was covered with a blue-green glaze down to the area of the maximum diameter. The interior of this section was also glazed. The underside of the lid is covered in a gray slip. The upper side is glazed. The base of the foot ring, the gallery on which the lid sits, and the outer edges of the underside of the lid were left unglazed.

There are symmetries in the modeling and decoration—the interiors of the top knob, the underside of the lid, and the foot ring are all concave, and the interior of the foot ring and the interior of the underside of the lid are both covered in a gray slip. None of these details is obvious when the lid is in place. The upper parts of both the bottom section and the lid are glazed. Wyman thinks about the unseen.

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