Ceramic Pillow

Inspired by Tang and Song dynasty ceramic pillows.

Inspired by Tang and Song dynasty ceramic pillows - as well as keeping the head cool, ancient ceramic pillows warded off evil spirits and made for auspicious gifts.

Our annual ceramic pit-firing is akin to a ritual, a unique ceramic experience both participative and meditative, where considerable care and attention is brought to each step of the process. Just the colours are left to the whims of the fire. Each piece is white when it goes in but when it comes out it has been marked by elements animated in the flames, (wood, banana skins, copper and algae). The cooling process traps this tableau in the very pores of the pieces. These generally large bellied pots, such as ‘moon’ shaped jars, ‘Grand Trépieds’ and ‘Big Bang’ pots become ritualised objects, “painted with fire”, bearing the markings of their passage through the flames.