Mid 20th Century Beatrice Wood Vase

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The glaze is entrancing, so like metal, or mercury with its hint of luster, and also of the earth in … Read more The glaze is entrancing, so like metal, or mercury with its hint of luster, and also of the earth in its greens and browns. This combination of simplicity of form married to the complexities and surprises of experiment is a hallmark of the work of the artist and legend Beatrice Wood. Signed Beato.

9" tall x 5" in diameter.

While on a trip to hear J. Krishnamurti speak in the Netherlands, the artist Beatrice Wood bought a pair of baroque plates with a luster glaze. She wanted to find a matching teapot to go along with it, but was unsuccessful. Deciding to make the teapot herself, she enrolled in a ceramic class at Hollywood High School. Throughout her long career in ceramics, she never did make the matching teapot. This hobby turned into a passion that lasted over the next sixty years, and she studied with a number of leading ceramists including Gertrude and Otto Natzler. Ultimately, Wood developed a signature style of glazing, an all-over, in-glaze luster that draws the metallic salts to the surface of the glaze by starving the kiln of oxygen.

In 1947, Beatrice Wood felt that her career was established enough for her to build a home. She settled in Ojai, California in 1948 to be near the Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti. She became a lifelong member of the Theosophical Society – Adyar. These associations greatly influenced her artistic philosophies. She also taught and lived on the same land as the Happy Valley School, now known as Besant Hill School.At the age of 90, Wood became a writer, having been encouraged to write by her friend Anais Nin, a French writer. Her best-known book is her autobiography, I Shock Myself (1985). When asked the secret to her longevity, she responded, "I owe it all to chocolate and young men." See less