Circle Line Reassembled Ring Teapot

I chose the title “Circle Line Reassembled Ring Teapot,” because I cut up the ovoid cross-section ring circle into seven sections, then reassembled it into a line and mounted it vertically on a round inverted bowl base. The Circle Line is the London Underground ring route around the outer circumference of the Greater London subway system. I spent the year May 1971 to June 1972 working as assistant to Colin and Leslie Pearson in their Quay Pottery in Aylesford, Kent, England, about 1 hour’s drive southeast of London. I traveled often to and around London during that time, and in the three subsequent visits I have made to England and Europe since then. London is the only city I have ever felt comfortable in, and I have a great affection for it, so naming my teapot after the Circle Line brings back great memories!

Many of my recent teapots (“Circle Line” was completed in 2008) are further explorations of ideas expressed in earlier teapots. When you read the essay for the Orange 5-Pointed Star Reassembled Ring Teapot, you will see that I originally planned for that teapot to be oriented vertically, but changed my idea during its construction because I am always open to re-evaluating original intentions in my artwork. I also explored this vertical orientation idea in Grasshopper Leaping Reassembled Ring Teapot and Blue-Green Pentagonal Cross-Section Reassembled Ring Teapot.

With “Circle Line,” I decided on the variation of bonding each cut-apart ring section to the middle of the adjoining section, so the slab-sealed ovoid ends would project out on either side, as if I were precariously stacking up hot dog buns or firewood logs. I first tried this center-joining reassembly idea in 1999 with Sky Blue Torn Ends Reassembled Ring Teapot.

I glazed “Circle Line” using all of our purple-red-lavender cone 5 glazes, starting with dark purple on the bottom, and progressing upward with lighter and lighter glazes, violet purple, coral, pink, a small transitional slice of violet purple again, and ending with the lightest, pale lilac purple on the top section. I visually tied the teapot stack together by making the transition lines between each glaze color fall in the middle of the ascending arc sections and not at the join areas. The original glaze treatment color was unsatisfactory after the glaze firing, so I consecutively dried out each glaze color to a thick paste and brush-painted the ascending colors onto the glossy surface of the fired teapot before re-firing the teapot in a later cone 5 electric kiln firing. There is a significant risk of cracking a re-fired piece in a subsequent firing, but everything went well, and Circle Line Reassembled Ring Teapot came out of its second glaze firing very successfully. 21" tall by 9" wide by 8" deep

21” Tall x 9” Wide x 8” Deep

Cone 5 oxidation-fired stoneware
Price: $3,200