Suzanne Wolfe on mon 30 oct 00
oops! CONVEX VS CONCAVE. Please read concave for convex in my
message. Furry brain syndrome!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:20:36 -1000 (HST)
From: Suzanne Wolfe
To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
Subject: Re: cup on a handle
On Mon, 30 Oct 2000, Paul Taylor wrote:
> Have you noticed that every potter since the stone age from every
> tradition always made thieir shapes convex - apart from the very late
> twentieth century and then only in Europe and America. if there was
> concavity in any shape it was reflective of nature and the smaller part of
> the form, eg the neck of a vase . I doubt if it was that concave shapes
> didn't occur to any body for five millenia but that our ancestors found that
> concave shapes do not reflect the harmony of nature, which ninety nine
> point nine percent of the time builds up the natural world with positive
> convex shapes.
Paul,
Sorry to disagree with you, but there were significant types of convex
forms made prior to the 20th century. The Italian drug jars
(albarelli; albarello (singular)), were mostly convex, and for the
specific reason that they allowed the fingers to slip in between the forms
when they were lined up on shelves, so easier to pick them up. These
forms were very popular and important during the 16th and 17th
centuries. I also recall some very elegant Chinese Qing Dynasty convex
forms, and they were also frequently exported to the West and mounted in
gold-plated brass as part of a garniture.
I am sure some others will come up with other examples.
Regards,
Suzanne Wolfe
| |
|
