Ceramic Bowl Shape Vessel by British Studio Potter John Ward

A stoneware vessel with glazed and banded stripes design by British studio ceramist John Ward (1938) circa 1986. The vessel takes its simple but distinct form between a deep bowl and a vase, with its organic folding and gentle curve. It was hand-build with bands of clays and glazed in a pleasant contrast color of white and celadon. The surface is marked with a fine and intentionally irregular texture. The work is modern and minimal in nature, yet it calls to mind a strong sense of inspiration from antiquity in China and Egypt. The base is branded with the artist's seal and initial "JW".
John Ward’s ceramic artwork is found in the permanent collections of many leading art museums including the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Biography (courtesy of Oxford Ceramic Gallery):
"The leading hand-builder John Ward was born in 1938 and trained at Camberwell College of Arts in the 1960s. He is one of a number of significant modern potters to have concentrated on the pared down individual vessel form, most particularly the bowl, as a touchstone for exploration. His generally simple work has been augmented by more complex structures, the shapes cut and altered, perhaps with abstract, geometric decoration and cut-away rims that give some of his pieces an architectural quality. In addition to urban surfaces, his work evokes honed natural forms, the kind of bonier, elemental landscape he has lived in since he moved close to the Welsh coast in 1979. His best pots speak eloquently of the limitless language of the bowl and globular jar, their sculptural and metaphorical resonances."
For a nearly identical but slightly smaller vessel, see lot 147 of Phillip's auction "The Art of Fire: Selections from the Dr John P. Driscoll Collection". 10 November 2021.