Hand-Painted Footed Fruit Bowl from Safi, Morocco, 20cm

It stands 20 centimetres off the table, which is the point. A flat bowl of oranges sits on a surface; this one occupies the room. The bowl and the pedestal carry different patterns arches and dot clusters around the rim, diamonds and half-moons down the foot and both are painted freehand, no stencil, so the bands close at a slightly different point on every piece. Run a finger over the terracotta lines and you feel nothing: the pigment goes on before the glaze, so the surface is one continuous sheet of gloss. Fill it with clementines and the orange sits against the burnt sienna the way it was meant to. Leave it empty and it still reads as an object rather than a container.

What Makes It

• Two patterns, one object the rim band and the pedestal band are different designs. The painter switches vocabulary halfway down.
• Painted freehand with a fine brush the line thickness shifts where the loaded brush ran dry. Look at where a band meets itself and you'll see the join.
• Underglaze pigment the pattern is painted, then glazed over. It can't scratch off, wear through, or fade with washing.
• Raised on a pedestal foot 20 cm tall, 15 across. High enough to sit on a coffee table without disappearing behind books.
• Food safe . Same Safi workshop as the 15 cm bowl, so likely yes, but confirm before stating it.

The Craft

Safi is Morocco's ceramics city the kilns sit on the hill above the port and the trade has been organised there for centuries. A footed piece is thrown in two parts, bowl and pedestal, then joined while the clay is leather-hard and fired. Painting comes after the first firing, and it's a separate specialisation from throwing. The painter holds the piece in one hand and turns it as he works, laying down a band that has to close cleanly by the time it returns to where it started. There is no pencil line underneath and no correcting a wrong stroke. Learning to draw it at speed, without hesitation, is what takes the years.

Details

• Material: Glazed ceramic, hand-painted
• Dimensions: 20 cm high × 15 cm diameter / 7.9 × 5.9 in
• Technique: Wheel-thrown in two parts, joined, hand-painted underglaze
• Origin: Safi, Morocco
• Food safe:yes
• Dishwasher:yes

Care

Hand wash in warm water with a soft cloth. No abrasive pad on the painted bands. Avoid sudden temperature change. Dry the unglazed foot fully before putting it back on a wooden surface.

What's Included

• One hand-painted footed bowl
• Origin Passport card with QR code the potter's name, his workshop in Safi, and photographs of the painting in progress
• Packed with the pedestal supported, boxed, DHL /FEDEX/ARAMEX/UPS, tracked to your door