Vase

Although little recognized during his own time, the ceramics produced by consummate artist-potter George E. Ohr are heralded today as some of the most complex and imaginative produced in America. Calling himself the "Mad Potter of Biloxi," Ohr worked on his own, developing his prodigious skill into a masterful craft. He redefined the vessel form as it had been known through adept manipulation of the ceramic material. Ohr challenged and exploited the plasticity of the medium in hitherto unexplored ways. Working with a low-fired earthenware clay, he threw his vases on the wheel into exceedingly thin-walled forms, which he then indented and pinched into irregular shapes.

This vase, of impressive scale and quiet monumentality, was inspired by the Japanese double-gourd form, but it has been altered by pinching in the upper portion. Although shape was Ohr's primary aesthetic expression, he developed numerous unusual and original glazes. The vase features a soft, subtle metallic glaze in a gunmetal gray that contributes to its sober presence.