29. Jay Trenchard, large green bowl

29. Jay Trenchard, large green bowl

 

Jay Trenchard now lives in Paso Robles, California. He began potting in the 1970s. When I bought this pot, he was in San Jose, California.  He writes: “After retiring in 2017 and moving to Paso Robles, . . . I discovered that Paso Robles is a unique geologic area which encourages what the French call “terroir” or a sense of place in the wines produced here. My current interest is to produce pottery that expresses that “terroir” by using locally sourced materials for my glazes.”

White clay, celadon green glaze; bottom of foot ring unglazed. Weight: 1878 g (4.2 lb). Rim diameter: 22 cm (8-5/8 in); maximum diameter: 23.5 cm (9-1/2 in); foot ring diameter: 13.3 cm (5-1/4 in). Height: 10.8 cm (4-1/4).

The foot ring is 1.3 cm (1/2 in) high; the area within the rim has been excavated to a depth of about 1 cm (3/8 in). An area within the base was left unglazed, and the artist’s surname and the date “93” incised into the clay. Presumably this means the pot was created in 1993. The sides of the pot rise in the classic bowl shape to the shoulder, which is 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in) above the base. The shoulder is marked by a decisive line around the circumference of the pot. The incising of this line forced the clay to bulge out slightly above the line. The sides then slope quickly inward and upward to the mouth of the pot. At twelve points around the sides, a vertical bulge was formed in the clay; the bulges run down the sides from just under the shoulder line to within about 2.5 cm (1 in) of the rim foot. Each line slants slightly to the right. The bulges are almost uniform but different enough from one another to break up the smooth shape of the pot.

A green glaze was applied to all of the pot except the base of the foot ring and the area within the foot noted above. The glaze has a fine crackle. The coverage is very even; there are only two pinpoint blemishes, and there is no pooling to create different shades. The finish is very smooth. 

The glaze matches the formal shape of this piece.

Purchased in 1993 at a crafts fair in Palo Alto, California, organized by the Association of Clay and Graphic Artists of California.