LSC 93 - Round funerary pot with lid - Sainsbury Centre Skip to content Sainsbury Centre Sainsbury Centre Visit What’s on Art & Objects Learning Stories Shop £0.000 View CartCheckout No products in the cart. Subtotal: £0.00 View CartCheckout Search: Looking for something in our Collection? Try searching all our artworks and objects Visit What’s on Art & Objects Learning Stories Shop You are here: Home Art & Objects Round funerary pot with lid 1/1 Round funerary pot with lid Julian Stair Julian Stair’s small funerary pots mark the very beginning of his exploration of the theme of death (a theme that evolves in his later monumental works). They also demonstrate the artist’s changing focus from surface decoration to an emphasis on form. In the late 1990s Stair began developing these thrown and constructed works, using unglazed red clay and white porcelain. He made a series of funerary pots in square, round, oval and triangular forms. The top, base, wall and lid of each pot are thrown as separate components, then collaged together. The artist cuts a circular hole in the lid, which becomes the stopper. [1] Lady Sainsbury visited the Contemporary Applied Arts gallery, London, in 1998 and contacted Stair to commend him on this series, expressing how much she loved the technique involved. She commissioned a group of seven works in red stoneware and white porcelain (see also LSC6, LSC7, LSC 90, LSC 91, LSC 92, LSC 94). [2] In contrast to Stair’s early vessels, where the separate surface decoration plays against the form of the open pot, the decoration of these pots is integral to its form, with a raised swirling spiral design that echoes or contrasts the geometric shape. We are taken on a visual narrative of the processes the clay undergoes at the hands of the potter. The dynamic spiral design highlights the movement of the throwing technique, making us aware of the process of the clay being manipulated into shape by the potter. The spiral ridge also creates shadows as light progresses around an object, producing three-dimensional qualities. It draws our eye around the different facets of the pot, moving upwards and inwards, until it disappears at the lid. This gentle visual communication brings our awareness to the passing of time and the functional aspect of the object, serving to remind us that these pots have been made to contain human remains. Katharine Malcolm, October 2020 [1] Interview with the artist, phone call 19/06/20.[2] Ibid. Further Reading Frankel, Cyril, and James Austin, Modern Pots (Norwich: University of East Anglia, 2000) Jones, Jeffrey, Studio Pottery In Britain 1900-2005 (London: A & C Black, 2007) Watson, Oliver, Studio Pottery (London: Phaidon, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1993) www.julianstair.com John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series: ‘A Sense of Place’, The Pennsylvania State University, 18 February 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTyzNba2KL4 Read More Save to my collection Download or share this object Tell us what you think Not on display Title/Description: Round funerary pot with lid Artist/Maker: Julian Stair Date created: 2000 Object Type: Ceramic, Funerary pot, Pot, Vessel Materials: Earthenware Technique: Collage, Throwing Measurements: h 8.9 x w 25 x d 23.2 cm Accession Number: LSC 93 Historic Period: 21st century Production Place: Britain, England, Europe School/Style: Studio Ceramics Copyright: © Julian Stair Credit Line: Bequeathed by Lady Sainsbury, 2014 More from our collection Maskette of human face Gourd, Pigment, Wood h. 70 x w. 60 x d. 1 mm Bronze table lamp Glass, Iron h 64 x w 15 x d 15 cm Bowl 1999 Stoneware h 12.5 x w 13.1 x d 13.1 cm Grey Knot with Five Planes 1978 Gouache, Paper h 23 x w 25.5 cm (frame: 55 x 54.5 x 2) Find us University of East Anglia, Norfolk Road, Norwich NR4 7TJ T: 01603 593199 Contact Us Access Press Office Opening times Tuesday – Friday 9am-6pm (Exhibitions 10am-6pm) Saturday – Sunday 10am-5pm (Exhibitions 10am-5pm) Closed Mondays, including bank holidays About us Join & support Venue hire Touring exhibitions Ts&Cs / Policies Shop customer support Join us Sign-up to our newsletter > Become a member > Go to Top
