Precisely articulated

Throughout October as part of our birthday celebrations we have asked some of our potters to choose their favourite pot. With almost 300 pots it was quite a task. We also asked them to explain their choice. We then discounted the chosen pot by a massive 20%.

Richard Phethean holding oval vessel

This week slab-built salt-glaze potter Ruth King has chosen a thrown, altered and assembled earthenware oval vessel by Richard Phethean. Here is what Ruth had to say: ‘Richard Phethean’s pots have an easy confidence about them that speaks of his skill and judgement accumulated over years of making. This particular piece would add verve to any space it occupied, it announces itself with joie de vivre but not too much fanfare.

There is a rich warmth in the textured red clay, deftly thrown and altered into a satisfying tilted oval with a precisely articulated rim .  By contrast, firmly outlined in cream, the watery cool greys and near-blacks float across the surface, the elliptic motif and curves confidently reiterated in layers that keep the eye on the move. There it sits waiting to be filled with whatever takes your fancy and would grace any interior, urban or rural, traditional or contemporary.’