Some years ago, at about the time I came back to making pottery after a long hiatus, I came across the story of the moon jar that Bernard Leach collected in Korea in 1935 and brought back with him to the UK. This moon jar inspired many of the great craft potters in Bernard Leach's circle. Its captivating form caught my attention and I started to try and make moon jars.

A seminar in 2019 with the great Dave Kim  at Sculpture Space in Long Island City inspired and challenged me to try and understand what it takes to make a great moon jar.

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I have become obsessed with the power of their rounded form and the connection this creates to the moon and other celestial bodies. So much about throwing a pot is about working within the constraints of gravity and centrifugal forces, the same physical forces that shape the moon and planets.

 

The decoration I have been exploring is another manifestation of these forces. The impact of the oxide washes that I throw against them with a soaked brush interacts with the rounded form in a unique way. The physical gesture of flinging the brush is my contribution, but where it goes from there is up to the pot that it strikes. Each time it is a wonderful surprise and a record of the moment of impact, something like what happens when a meteor strikes the surface of the moon.   

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Working on moon jars excites me and I have many new ideas that I hope to explore in future work.

 

Click on each image to see dimensions and stats of each piece.

 

Stay tuned for more to come...