Ancient Bowls - Tim Spencer

I love this bowl because of the beautiful stylization.  I like how simple the imagery is, and how the two rabbits seem to be moving around the circular bowl shape after each other.  There seem to be a couple of holes in the bottom, which makes me think it must have had a particular use which the holes were necessary for.  I also like the dull brown and white, and the shape of the negative space.

I love the middle eastern tradition of creating compositions out of words. I love that this bowl says 'happiness happiness'.  I imagine eating a big, delicious meal out of this bowl, and getting to the end of the meal and seeing 'happiness happiness' at the bottom.  It makes me want to make my own happiness bowl.  I also really like the quick, gestural lines of the script, and the decorations around the rim, like someone painted them on very quickly and fluidly, as if they had done it a hundred times in a row.  It makes me think about the life of the person who made it in 9th century Iraq. 

I imagine that drinking out of a bowl like this makes you think about what a bowl or cup really is.  If I was just drinking out of paper cup, I would barely notice the cup at all, or think about what a cup could be, or what I was doing with it.  Honestly, I might not even notice that I was drinking out of it, if I was really busy.  On the other hand, this one sort of seems to shout, "I am made of clay!  Someone dug me out of the ground!"  Maybe this sort of bowl makes you think about the moment you're in as well.  There's also a great deal of subtlety in the coloring and shaping. Little bits of red flecks in the black, and a fluctuating surface as you move your hand around it.