Duncan Ross – container with incised line decoration

Very elegant stoneware vessel with an high shine terra-sigillata surface. The inlay decoration is inspired by Indian Ikat ceramics. Inside with a marble look. This piece was bought by the first owner in Galerie Terra, Delft in 2002. Explanation by the artist about his very complicated way of working: ‘I use only clay and smoke. I began working with terra-sigillata with the desire to use the simplest materials and to develop a rich surface with a combination of form and pattern that would be integral to the clay. My work is thrown and burnished using many layers of a fine terra-sigillata slip with resist and inlay decoration. Colours are achieved by smoke firing. I aim to develop a rich surface integral to the clay that has a feeling of depth, allowing the smoke process to play its essential and unpredictable part. It is the combination of the fundamental and the sophisticated that I find fascinating.’