133. Jake Brodsky, wood- and soda-fired vase, with altered shape

133. Jake Brodsky,  wood- and soda-fired vase, with altered shape

For Brodsky, see item 116.

Light gray clay incorporating wild clay gathered on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, interior has a lining glaze; exterior colors from wood-firing. Weight: 462 g (1 lb). Rim diameter: 2.5 cm (1 in); maximum diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in); base diameter: 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in). Height: 12 cm (4-3/4 in).

This sits on the outer edges of the base; the interior of the base is slightly concave. The remnants of the five posts used to separate pots during firing are visible on the bottom. The walls rise in a convex arc from the base to the neck. The maximum diameter lies about 5 cm (2 in) above the vase. The base of the neck is 10.2 cm (4 in) above the base. The lower edge of the neck is 3.0 cm (1-1/8 in) in diameter; the neck flares out to a diameter of 3.2 cm (1-1/4 in) before sloping inward to the rim. The walls of the pot have horizontal striations around the circumference. They appear to have been made with a metal comb-like tool. There are five irregularly spaced, vertical grooves cut into the sides of the pot extending from the neck to the base; these create indentations in the sides of the pot. The artist’s mark, an asterisk shape inside a circle, was pressed into the exterior wall just above the base on one side. The surface is textured and rough.

The interior of the vase has a clear glaze. The colors on the exterior result from the wood-firing and range from red through black. One side of the vase has very little coloring. The soda-firing added a sheen to the exterior walls, more so on one side than the other.

A great combination of shape, modeling, and firing.

Purchased from the artist, July 2012.