Remnants Pottery

A remnant is something left behind. It is the substance that remains when the rest has disappeared or been destroyed. It survives when the greater part is lost.

The formation of clay is a result of weathering and erosion, specifically of feldspathic rocks over millennia. Clay, whether it be the purer, porcelaneous kaolinite, or earthenware terracotta diluted over time, is what remains after eons, after the wind and rain, after river systems and mountains have come and gone. It is the remnant of colossal, geological and temporal forces.

In the hands of the potter, clay arrives at a form before a firing process that will see it reach maturity. In this final state, it becomes something that, though fragile, may last long after its maker is gone. We have learned about entire lost civilisations through the pottery they left behind, from the way the pots were fired, from the remnants of their contents, analysed centuries later, from the art that decorates their surfaces, detailing daily life, ritual or mythology.

A pot may be a gift that holds something of the gift-giver within it, a memory, a remnant that returns with every use.

In its purest form, a pot contains the remnants of its creator, perhaps only visible in a single thumbprint.