118. John Riley, altered, wood-fired vase

 118. John Riley, altered, wood-fired vase

 

 

Riley is based in Washington, D.C. He makes “high-fire functional pottery.” For more on him and other examples of his work, visit his webpage: www.johnrileypottery.com, or his Instagram account @johnrileypottery.

Riley gives this description of the making of this pot: “This small vase was wheel thrown and the clay was altered after which it was glazed in a shino and fired in the wood kiln. The atmosphere and ash from the wood kiln leaves darker, rust colored areas along the altered/scraped section of the pot and on the raw clay bottom.”

Gray clay, light green Shino glaze on interior and most of exterior, over a dark brown slip; base and bottom portion of exterior walls left unglazed. Weight: 510 g (1.1 lb). Rim diameter: 3.8 cm (1-1/2 i

This sits directly on the flat base. The remains of the posts used to separate pots in firing are visible on the bottom. The walls rise from the base in a shallow convex arc to the shoulders, which are 9.5 cm (3-3/4 in) above the base. The diameter at the shoulders is 7.7 cm (3 in), only slightly narrower than that of the base. The maximum diameter of 9 cm (3-1/2 in) lies 4.8 cm (1-7/8 in) above the base. Above the shoulders, the walls curve inward in a convex arc to the neck, which is 10.8 cm (4-1/14 in) above the base and 4.2 cm (1-5/8 in) wide at the lower end. The neck curves inward slightly and then outward to the rim. The surface of the pot was scraped, creating vertical striations; it appears that something like a metal comb was used. The texture is ribbed from the vertical striations. The potter’s mark “JR” inside a circle was pressed into the side wall of the pot just above the base.

A Shino glaze was applied over this on the interior and the exterior down to about 2.5 cm (1 in) up from the base. The striations down the external walls of the pot and the unglazed portions turned a reddish-brown from the wood-firing. The reddish-brown colors are heavier in some areas than others. The Shino glaze coated the interior only lightly, and the reddish-brown color predominates. On the exterior walls, the green glaze coats the neck and shoulders completely; the coverage on the side walls varies. There are a few areas of light ash deposits, mostly in the neck and shoulder areas.

Purchased from the artist, June 2021.