Sculptural Ceramic Handled Vase by Robert Turner

A black glazed stoneware free form vase with handle by American Ceramist Robert Chapman Turner (1913 - 2005) titled "Akan" and made in 1990. The vessel is one of the classic forms with variations in Turner's repertoire since 1970s when he started to make non-functional abstract sculptural pieces inspired by the artist's trip to Africa. The vessel features a hand-built conical form with surface features such as cross-shape marking, scabs and protrusion of small slabs. The handle was made from two hand-built long narrow bars. The black glaze was polished and retains a wabi-sabi charm with the artist-intended textures and finishes. Incised signature "Turner" on the base. A collector's paper label indicates "Akan and 90" as shown.
"In 1971–72, drawn by the power of African sculpture, and wishing to imbue his work with a greater sense of universality, Robert Turner traveled to Nigeria and Ghana. The trip proved transformational. In West Africa he was deeply moved by the way in which art was ingrained in daily experience, and by the beauty of traditional forms of architecture, pottery, ceremonial objects, and decoration. After his return, Turner began to produce series of distinctive vessel types named after African kingdoms and peoples—Ashanti, Ife, Oshogbo, Akan. The first is a squat, lidded pot; the others are cone and cylinder shapes." Smithsonian American Art Museum
Robert Turner's work is in numerous museum collections including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City.
For another example of the form similar to this piece, see page 36-37 in "Robert Turner Shaping Silence A Life in Clay" by Marsha Miro and Tony Hepburn.