Vase 1893 - 1911

This is a vase, made by Dedham Pottery at the turn of the century, in the American Arts and Crafts style. I’m really drawn to the combination of the smooth surface and the crackled glaze effect, a kind of controlled chaos. It's funny, the blue and white is so familiar, like traditional porcelain, but the way the blue paint kind of bleeds into the crackled surface gives it a very different feel. Look at how the glaze has these fine crazed lines all over, it’s like a map of tiny little roads. Up close, you can almost get lost in them. The artist lets the medium do it’s thing, allowing the cracking to become part of the design. This embracing of the imperfect and unpredictable is, I think, what makes art so interesting. I’m reminded of the sculptor, Lucio Fontana, who slashed and punctured his canvases in a similar way, pushing the boundaries of what art can be. With both artists, the effect is so powerful and evocative, it suggests a whole world of possibilities.