Unknown Klinker Vase With Bamboo Decor

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A beautiful, hand-turned and -decorated “klinker” vase of unknown origin. It has a distinctive, sgraffito, bamboo décor. Fine horizontal “scratches” … Read more A beautiful, hand-turned and -decorated “klinker” vase of unknown origin. It has a distinctive, sgraffito, bamboo décor. Fine horizontal “scratches” are highlighted by the application of a pale, khaki-colored stain. Unmarked.

KLINKER POTTERY takes its name from a particular sort of partially-vitrified brick, commonly referred to as “klinker” or “clinker,”—so-called because of the metallic sound produced when klinker bricks are struck together. Like its namesake brick, klinker pottery is hard-fired at unusually high temperatures. Typically hand-thrown, it is also often decorated or burnished by hand—and only partially colored, if at all, using special dyes. These production methods tend to make klinker items very water-resistant, and in most cases, waterproof, even without interior glazing. (Incidentally, being denser than normal bricks, klinkers provide relatively poor insulation. On the other hand, their hard surfaces make them frost-resistant, so they are well-suited for use in facades and as pavers. Early klinkers were simply the accidental byproducts of brickmaking.) See less