208. Andrew Sartorius, Sculpture Series 24, “Burnt Bone,” 2023
West Virginia wild clay with small imbedded white pebbles, fired at the front of a train kiln during a reduction-cooled firing. Ash glazed, with colors in the black, gray, and reddish brown ranges. (Note: the blurb on Sartorius’s website described this as a four-day firing in an anagama kiln rather than a train kiln—that description comes from a handwritten note on a postcard that came with the piece.) Weight: 1.8 kg (4 lb). Length: 17.7 cm (7 in). Width: 12.6 cm (5 in). Height: 12.6 cm (5 in).
This sits on a narrow flat base, roughly oval in shape, running the length of the piece and 5 cm (2 in) wide at the maximum. The base shows remnants of the wads used to hold this in place during the firing. The front side and top (the part with the opening) are one continuous piece with a curved edge. The front wall bulges outward, and the top slopes downward to the right and is a shallow concavity. The opening is at the right end of the curved edge, about 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter. The right side is an inverse comma in shape; a sharp, sloping ridge bisects this shape above the mid-point. Both halves are shallow concavities.
The back side is a rough rectangle, with another shallow concavity toward the right-hand side. The artist’s mark was impressed into the clay on the lower left, just above the base. The left-hand side is a rough circle, narrower at the bottom and wider at the top, a slightly flatter concavity that those found on the other faces. Except for the rolling edge at the front top, the edges where the faces meet are sharp and defined. The surface is very rough.
The ash glaze pooled on the top in the concavity. There are streams of ash glaze down the front. The back and sides have less ash glazing.
Another splendid piece from this artist. The base is quite narrow in comparison with the top of the piece, but it sits solidly.
Purchased from the artist in April 2023.
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