In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Smith made many extended research trips to the Mediterranean and found new preoccupations in its architecture. Smith became interested in the nature of the pedestal or plinth and its relationship to the object it displays, often citing the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius at the Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, displayed on a plinth by Michelangelo, made itself some 1400 years later. [4] This bowl is part of a series that includes a supporting element, much like a pedestal or plinth, and Smith interrogates the interaction between the two bodies and the role of elevation that one has to the other. The union of separate parts (statue and plinth, vessel and pedestal) fuse to make a third composition that affords them prominence in the surrounding space and draws attention. [5]

For this series, as the title suggests, Smith also found inspiration in the ancient sites of Sicily. In particular, at Selinunte, a valley of Ancient Greek temples now collapsed following an historic earthquake. Smith recalls how monolithic columns lie as rubble in their separate elements, undoing the image of stability and immovability that these temples would have once had. [6] In this piece, the relationship between the object and plinth is similarly destabilised by the dramatic slope at which the fusion of the two bodies occur. No longer is the plinth a supporting, elevating object but the composition appears precarious. The similar blocky, angled shapes of the two bodies recall imagery of once perfectly matched now tumbled column shafts, perhaps even a hint of entasis is suggested in one shape being larger than the other.

Despite the influence of ancient sites and architectural elements, Smith maintains his interest in the vessel form. The colour contrast between the clay/slip and the aluminium draws the viewers’ attention to the rim and internal space of the vessel. [7] Viewed from different angles, the vessel’s interior is cave-like and close, its capacity is unclear, but the deep opening on one wall negates this, letting in shafts of light.

Natalie Baerselman le Gros, November 2020

[1] Martin Smith, ‘Forms around a vessel’, in Forms around a Vessel: Ceramics by Martin Smith exhibition catalogue (Leeds: Leeds Art Gallery and Leeds Art Collections Fund, 1981), pp. 5-14 (p.11).

[2] Interview with Martin Smith, phone call 10/09/2020.

[3] Alison Britton, ‘Within Walls’, in Martin Smith, Balance and Space, Ceramics 1976-1996 exhibition catalogue (Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 1996), pp. 9-30 (p. 24).

[4] Smith, pp. 5-14 (p. 12).

[5] Smith, pp. 5-14 (p. 12).

[6] Interview with Martin Smith, email 30/10/2020.

[7] Interview with Martin Smith, email 30/10/2020.