Over the last few months, along with other things, I’ve been working on developing a new range of teabowls which will feature various complementary glazes.
There’s something very special about the teabowl, with it’s handle-less form, that seems to make you engage with the vessel, and its contents, more intensely. It’s a simple concept but can be created and recreated in so many ways, shapes and sizes.
The teabowl has, of course, a very long tradition and association with Japanese ceramics. However, I decided to develop my teabowl shape as an extension of the rounded vessels that I already produce. Using this as a starting point, I then extend the base into a gently sloping but pronounced foot. It’s not the most ‘traditional’ shape for a teabowl perhaps, but it represents and evolution from my existing designs towards a specifically ‘functional’ form.
I have produced examples in a variety of glazes and clays, including green crackle and pale speckled white glazes on porcelain, produced in a reduction firing. I’ve added the iron oxide details on the sides that I use on other forms to provide subtle decoration and highlight line marks scored in the soft clay.
Unglazed dark terracotta versions of the same shape also provide a strong contrast to the milky white porcelain.
Alongside the teabowls, I also made a range of bottles which subtly complement them. Influenced more by the ceremony of the British cuppa than anything else; the bottle shapes I’ve made take their cue from the rather stout form of old-fashioned glass milk bottles. But the form also aims to reflect the shape of the teabowls I make; with the mouth of the bottles mirroring the profile of the foot of the cups.
These stoneware versions I made illustrate the connection of the two forms quite strongly.
Despite not often seeking out functional forms in my work, I’ve found a strange delight in making these clearly functional-inspired pieces. Though they may, or may not, be used as such by any future owners. It is this exploration of an idea of a form that lies behind the work of so many ceramicists.
So I’m hugely excited about the forthcoming Oxford Ceramics Gallery ‘Teabowl’ exhibition in October. I feel even more honoured that I will have teabowls of my own in this exhibition. My pieces will be amongst many, including some very exalted names in the world of Ceramics, in what will prove to be a very varied and fascinating mix of styles based on one simple idea.
I can’t wait.
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