Summer Reading Recommendation: Ceramic Art
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by Jessie Dean
Ceramic Art is the first volume in Princeton University Press’s ART/WORK series, which invites readers to reconsider a section of art history through the lens of materials and conservation. The eight essays in this anthology, edited by Caroline Fowler and Ittai Weinryb, demonstrate the enchanting and elusive nature of ceramics across time and cultures in a format accessible for someone new to ceramics yet also captivating for a well-versed collector. With examples from Italy, Peru, Nigeria, and Korea, among others, and spanning tens of thousands of years, the authors make an earnest attempt at the ambitious goal of covering the breadth of ceramics history.
Individual experiences run through these essays, beginning with Vicki Parry’s discussion of her role as an objects conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Parry discusses crazing, the small cracks that result from clay and glaze contracting at different rates. Although crazing is a technical flaw, a breathtaking celadon funerary jar (figure 1) shows just how beautiful and desirable the resulting surface can be. Ceramicists may work to eliminate such a flaw or to replicate it in other work, challenging Parry to balance the impulse to repair or stabilize a piece with the desire to honor the maker’s intention.
Decorative Arts Trust Governor Yao-Fen You contributed a case study on a set of unusually large soft-paste porcelain figural groups representing the four continents (figure 2). Each includes a woman, a river god, and an animal companion, providing ample visual clues for comparison with other depictions of the four continents. She invites the reader along for an investigation that combines technical analysis and traditional observation, aiming to pinpoint the contemporary trends that likely influenced the porcelain designer and the manufactory that produced this set.
The other authors took a variety of analytic approaches, including a close look at elaborate surface decoration, the meaning an object carried when it was made to how we see it now, the transport of clay and trade of finished goods, and the process of breaking apart an object so that it can be better repaired. Whatever your level of interest in ceramics, you will gain new perspectives from the thoughtful essays in Ceramic Art.
Jessie Dean is the Membership Manager at the Decorative Arts Trust.
A print version of this article was published in The Magazine of the Decorative Arts Trust, one of our most popular member benefits. Join today!