The Crown
Mary Rose recently made two more of her Giant Crowns and I realised how unusual a piece it is. It certainly works as a vase, it would hold quite a large fistful of flowers and one imagines that the V shape of the crown “rim” would have an elevating effect on the flowers. As a Candleholder it flourishes too. Finished height is about 9 or 10 inches and it’s another of her slab built achievements. The walls start life as a sheet of clay which has to dry so much that it can still be pliable but not in any way floppy. Then with the eye and dexterity of the expert she turns the slab into tube wrapped around the thick base and starts cutting away triangles to form the crown shape, and teasing the fronds outwards to give as much beauty as possible to the regal form. The finished piece has an elegance that belies slabs and rolling, and it weighs in as one of the heaviest pieces she makes. ..the little coffee cup and saucer are there as a “size guide”