A master potter's hand

When I saw the photo of this beautiful pot I immediately wanted to share it, and to handle it.  I love the glossy black slip, and the way it segues into that wonderful striped band, echoing the flow from the spout when in use.  It would not look out of place at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre or a West End gallery,  but it was excavated from the ancient city site of Kerma, in the Sudan, and was made some time between 2500 BC and 1450 BC.   

Spouted ceramic beaker from Kerma, Kingdom of Kush, 2500-1450 BC.

© Trustees of British Museum

[And see the British Museum blog by curator Anna Garnett: Linking Cultures, September 1st] 

Nicola da Urbino

"Every touch is sensitive, singing and dancing, charged with a mysterious life of its own."

The Art of the Potter  William Honey

The unaccountable element

"Fire is an awe-inspiring, unaccountable element, and it is good that this wild partner should at times assert his share in the potter's work."

Style in Pottery  Arthur Lane