Salt glaze stoneware bottle vase
Vancouver, c. 1970’s. 9 1/4” high by 7” wide.
$200 (CAD)
Salt glaze is one of my favourite - the orange peel texture, the opalescent reflection. It’s also an artefact of the kiln atmosphere: a visual and textural record of fire and salt, similar to the fire and burn markings of wood-fired bizen ware. You can see the vapour flashing around the four wadding marks on the bottom where the pot stood on the kiln shelf.
According to Mark, the soft baby blues are a result of applying a porcelain slip to a darker clay body, then adding a thin underglaze blue - which was a modified recipe borrowed from Mick Henry. Mick was a big influence for Mark, as was his instructor and friend John Reeve.
The soft blue over the round, ovoid reminds me a water drop. The heavy bottom flattens like water’s surface tension transferring to the plane below. This dynamic pull downwards is countered by the incised upward spiral enveloping the vase body.