Claudi Casanovas (1956, Spain) 

Amphora
1998
Stoneware; ht. 55 in.

The Catalan artist Casanovas first studied theatre design in Barcelona, then trained as a ceramist in Olot in Catalonia. In 1986 he won the Grand Prize at the Vallauris Biennale in France and repeated this in 1992 at the III International Ceramics Competition in Mino, Japan, securing his place in the top tier of European ceramists. Since 1986 he has lived in Ridaura (near Olot) in the Pyrenees Mountains where he has moved the dramatic stratified geology of this landscape into his art. He mainly works large scale and with each body of work invents ingenious new methods of forming, moving and firing his vessels and sculpture, tools and process that are almost as creative as the art itself. There is a Vulcan quality to his work, otherworldly, made by a bigger hand than that of man, with the effects of the fire very evident (often highlighted with a blowtorch after a firing, a bit like a huge crème brûlée). This large vessel is an amphora that comes to a point in the base, a shape that proved to be the most efficient space-wise in stacking vessels filled with olive oil in the sailing ship's hold during ancient times. Amphoras usually had two collars at the top of the vessel so they could be placed in a metal stand and tipped to pour their contents. Casanovas did not add these elements, but did design a metal stand to hold the vessel upright.

Reference: Casanovas, Claudi and Birks, Tony. Claudi Casanovas. Marston House, Yeovil, 1996.

Excellent original condition.