Assignment #4

 This Japanese water jar is from the Edo period, estimated to be from 1720. It is classified as stoneware. I like the shape of the piece, how it has a slight belly. I took a liking to that shape in class during the demo today. The belly shape looks like it would be comfortable to hold, and a nice feeling cup is important to me. Although, when I make my cups, I would extend the rim/top of the cup to add some height so my piece wouldn't be as stout as this historical piece.

This cup and saucer is dated to be around 1760, and was made in Saint Petersburg, Russia for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. This piece is porcelain, so I don't think I would have the skill to make something like this right now. What I like about this piece is that the cup has the "belly" element to it at the bottom, which I would like to replicate. As with the other piece, I would want to take a different approach with the top half of my cups. I want to make the belly shape, and then continue up for a little bit, straightening out for the rim of my pieces (the piece is a little too upright at the top for my taste.)

These pieces were made by Sanam Emami from accessceramics.org. They are porcelain (it seems all most of the pieces I chose for this post are porcelain), and were made in 2009. This is the shape I am going for in this assignment. The belly shape with a continuation (almost like a hill?)

These cups were handbuilt by Margaret Bohls. I also found this on accessceramics.org. I watched some of her videos on youtube and it was really cool to see how effortlessly she made her pieces. I like the shape of these cups, the belly shape I've been going on about. I think this would be the shape of cup I will be making for my assignment, even though I will be making my pieces on the wheel. As for the handle placement, I think I might try Bohls' placement and see if it's comfortable for me. If not, I would like to try placing the top of the handle maybe a quarter or half of an inch higher, so that my hand could fit better.