#earthernware

[princessfromthelandofporcelain]

Funerary sculpture with horse and rider

Chinese, Tang Dynasty, early 8th century

earthenware with three-color (sancai) glaze and pigment

Metropolitan Museum of Art

[princessfromthelandofporcelain]

Animal pen with figures. Chinese, Han Dynasty, 1st to early 3rd century A.D. Earthenware with green lead glaze. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

From the Met:

This animal pen is populated with goats, tended to with one hand by a mother who cradles an infant in her other arm. It is typical of mingqi or "spirit utensils" that accompanied the deceased in burials of the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 A.D.). Replicas of farm animals, utilitarian objects, and entertainers were believed to provide nourishment and amusement for the soul of the tomb occupant. The elevated structure serves as an architectural record of rustic buildings that would have been part of a large agricultural estate, and preserves in clay details of wooden design and construction—such as the low-pitched roof with a series of wood rafters flanging from a central beam—that have long since disintegrated above ground.

The popularization of mingqi over the course of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.) reflects dramatic changes in Chinese society, illustrating how power circulated beyond the imperial government and nobility to a broader bureaucratic class. In the early years of the Han, Confucianism emerged as the dominant philosophy and the empire became dependent on a class of scholar-officials. They desired gratification for themselves and their families in the afterlife and plentiful clay, fashioned into models ranging from crude earthenware to fine glazed stoneware, was the ideal medium for furnishing mingqi in burials across a swath of social strata.

[monstertsunami]

MY CREATURES ARE DONE !!

this little set of sphinxes were a great experiment in sculpting! the glazes weren't very kind to me , but I'm happy with then nonetheless.

they are so cute & i learned so much while making them ^w^ very happy !

[foundobjectsbrightloud]

I stay silly.

[monstertsunami]

MY SGRAFFITO PLATES ARE FINALLY DONE !!!!

before/after glaze fires because the detail is soo hard to capture on camera with all the shine..

bonuses & rambles under cut !!

the wing plate was marbled clay & terracotta, and the underside REALLY shows it

bonus bisqueware snake to match the rest of the bisqueware pics. i am disappointed that the green underglaze was lighter than i remembered and muddied all the foliage :( wanted to make it clear in the main post so i chose a photo i took when i had just finished carving.

and the kinda wonky concept design that kicked off all 3! i didnt originally plan to carve each individual scale and leaf .....

process ramble time !!! my studio doesnt have the right type of wheels to use a bat on so i couldnt throw these. which disappointed me at first because handbuilt plates usually look reallyyy wacky and i get quite self concious over imperfections in my clay forms. i developed a really good process to get these as pretty as possible though! I used a convex slump mold to get the shape- convex molds are the best fo get a consistant & uniform face on each plate. usually i do this before the weekend, so when i come back i can carve away all the imperfections on a footing wheel without deforming the plate.

i usually keep it on a mold throughout the entire process- once ive carved the bottom i flip it over and set it in a concave mold to support the rim. this also helps with carving, so the wheels little hands can grab onto the mold and dont interfere with my work. when the plate looks all smooth and nice, i spend the rest of the day underglazing, then i can move on to carving it all away! it took only about 3-4 days of studio time to carve each plates design after it was footed, leaving me the last two days of the week to prep my clay for the next one!

im really happy with how these turned out, they taught me a lot about making mistakes with ceramics and really helped me get confident with my process. honestly it was way easier than my typical sculpture work, cause i already have a ton of experience with the 2D aspects of these designs, while i still have a lot to learn about sculpting even after almost three years of working with clay :3 the loss of detail in the snake's foliage is still disheartening but hell! every piece ive ever made has disappointed me and it only keeps me creating. someday i WILL make something perfect with my own two hands. and no amount of bad glaze choices along the way can fucking stop me.

oh also- the fish & snake plates both have meaning and feature specific species (i just wanted to carve wings into the other plate lol, not too much symbolism there) so take a crack at analyzing them and guessing the species if u wanna!

[monstertsunami]

i dissapeared from the RW community for a few months, was big scug ever finished?

oh yeah i just forgot to post whoops ;w;

it has a removable son :3

progress pics for fun. its hollow (holes hidden under belly for ventilation) but still heavy as shit

[monstertsunami]

earthenware isopod sculpture

[monstertsunami]

i made a tiny ceramic slugcat figurine