Ceramic Vase with Green Glaze by John Ward

A stoneware vessel by British studio ceramist John Ward (1938-2023) circa 1985. The flat shouldered vase is molded in a simple and elegant form with harmonious proportion. A small mouth opening is slightly raised above the flat shoulder, echoed by the small round base. The vessel's surface is covered by a mottled copper green to turquoise matt glaze with a lightly textured surface. Visually arresting as if the vase was cast in bronze with a naturally aged verdigris patina. The beauty of the work is subtle, meditative but still manages to be distinctly recognizable, characters that are iconic of the artist's work.
Subtlety and quietude are among some of the best adjectives to describe the work of the British studio potter John Ward. Inspired by nature around him and archaic forms, his work invites the viewers to contemplate and meditate.
Underside with impressed artist's seal with 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 (1938-2023) was 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."