BACKGROUND:
Unlike most of the chinaware's, ceramic's and porcelain that our family is seeking new homes for, this jug is mine all mine!
I left NZ in the 1980's and of course bought with me "momento's", things that were important to me at the time ... tons of music from the "Dunedin Sound" era and special ceramics, this being one of the latter.
Up until Christine came on the pottery-ceramic's scene in NZ, things were pretty ... well, let's say boring in design, typically earthy Brown studio offerings.
She started up her small studio and presented to NZ (and later exported to Australia) something a "bit different" through the markets in Auckland. This jug is so typical of her later work, particularly her signature four petal, vividly coloured flower design but she also produced some wonderfully quirky "Memphis Style" vases and pieces that were intentionally "not quite right" from a geometric viewpoint - she didn't want to be like all the other potters. Christine's work became very popular and she expanded and became "commercial" as she could no longer keep up with demand by herself and eventually evolved into the well known Studio Ceramics, NZ.
While I did not have the money to buy a Memphis styled vase in my younger years (they were expensive in those days and now very highly sought after), I did manage to buy this jug as a momento of all things "different" about NZ.
What's a Memphis style vase? Take a look at this beauty!
There is reams of information about Christine Harris way back then and now, if you would like to find out more please take a look HERE or HERE
CHRISTINE HARRIS (NZ) - Table Jug
Designed and decorated, fired in NZ by Christine
Circa 1980's ~ 1990's
I believe the jug itself was a blank, not produced by Christine (probably purchased from Western Potters Supplies in Auckland who supplied many NZ artists with ceramic blanks)
The floral four petal design was used on a lot of her work, even from the early days and produced in various colour combinations.
I believe the "official" name (according to sources from Studio Ceramics) for this piece is Green Red Floral (imaginative design but not so imaginative a design name!) Actually I would describe the colour as being closer to a Pink Watermelon tone. Apparently this colour combination was one of her most popular at the time.
The Pink Watermelon tones (aka Red) are also used inside the jug with an all over "wash" of colour.
The glaze is of a high lustre, I even had trouble getting reasonable photographs because of all the light reflections!
The decorative work is not precise and neatly organised like so much of the English chinaware decorative work, the brush strokes are clearly visible, the colours overlap and are not precise but that is the attraction of the artwork, it is non-conformist in nature!
DIMENSIONS:
180mm (7") height x 130mm (5") at the widest point across, making this a medium size jug that doesn't take up too much space!
Oh and if one was considering actually using this jug, it comfortably holds 1 litre of liquid (I checked!)
BACKSTAMP:
Here is a photograph of the Black stamp printed, under glaze backstamp
COSMETIC CONDITION:
NO cracks
NO chips
NO wear n tear observed to the decorations externally or inside
NO staining inside the jug
Yes, there is crazing evident both wet and dry. Note noticeable externally but inside the mouth of the jug I can see fine crazing lines and also on the underside around the backstamp area.
