Festival cups

In theory, the cups have all gone to their new owners so I can post the posse of my latest experiments. Three different eras, three different styles and three different colour sets! I'm very please with how these turned out. I was a little unsure if the new glazes would have the right tones and if the shading would work well but I seemed to have nailed the contrast I needed.

Cup 1 reference:

I've been sitting on this reference image for a while. If you've visited my Pinterest collections you'll know I mostly have blue and white ceramics however I am fascinated by other extant artifacts as well. This plate features a black horse with a cheetah on it's back. The original is reportedly in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco however I haven't been able to find a formal online reference for it. At the moment the only two bits of information come from flicker and trip advisor. Not the best resources. That said, I have managed to find a piece in a similar style, depicting the same subject matter in the Cleveland Museum of Art (here, and info here). The Cleveland one apparently dates to the 900's so it's fair to assume the my one is from around the same time and place.

Horse with Cheetah, 800-1200.Nishapur, Iran. Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. 

Cup 2 reference:

This one turned up when I was trolling The Met for references for a different research project. I stored it away on my Pinterest and when I wanted to make a prize for the Fighter Auction Tourney I thought this would be perfect. I really liked the style of the griffin but wasn't too keen on the rest of the bowl. It didn't translate into a cup as well as the horse did because the griffin is too long compared to it's height. I should have shrunk it down more and put two on the cup with a vine border at the top but i didn't know what the vines would look like until I was done. Ah well, I can always do a reprise if the mood strikes me.

Bowl with Griffin. 11th Century, Egypt. The Met Museum. Item no. 1970.23

Cup 3 reference:

I didn't find this reference. It was passed onto me as a suggestion for a different project. I modified the design at the request of it's new owner to suit her heraldry. This cup is based on a typical Albrello (Drug Jar) which features three sets of wings. When I find the original (I suspect The Met due to the background), I'll post it here.

Albrello (drug jar), Italy. Museum and date unknown.

Pre firing:

Finding myself not so sure about the layout and I modified the nose into a beak
.

Blue and gold, light yellow and green, gold and red.

Ceramic project 41 - Blue on white Italian cup

 

Dish, tin-glazed earthenware. Tuscany, Montelupo, Italy. 1575- 1625.

The Fitzwilliam Museum. Item C.187-1991

This project was created to provide a physical reference for my ongoing Blue on White research. Initially I chose this design because it was so out of the ordinary for Italian designs. Italian maiolica tends to be know for it's vibrant colours (1) which combine portraits (2), grotesques (3) and baroque style floral designs (4, 5). Given the wide colour pallet available to the Italian mailoica artists, simple blue on white items are rare.

The geometric nature of the extant item appealed to me as did the psudo-caligraphic fill pattern. I believe this item was inspired by Persian imports rather than the local Italian traditions. I have attempted to replicate this flat pattern on a barrel shaped mug which slightly distorted some of the diamond shapes. I also did my best to copy the fill pattern from each section, because that's how I roll. This is my favorite cup of the series so far.