Four thrown lidded jars

This still life sculpture comprises of four lidded jars made from several thrown pieces. Each jar has its own identity and is connected through a playful visual language of elongated lids, sensuous leaning bodies and glossy white painterly surfaces. This is a very early work by Andrew Lord, made when he was in his second year at the Central School of Art and Design in the late 1960s (see also 50756). Lord gifted the work to Gilbert Harding-Green (Head of Ceramics at the Central School 1956-71), who could see the potential in Lord and was enthusiastic about this work. [1]

In these early forms we see antecedents of Lord’s later sculptures. Since the 1970s Lord’s has continuously explored groups of archetypal ceramic objects. He marries surface with form, through textures created from physical gestures and rich glaze decoration. Lord refers to his work as sculpture to enable a, ‘fresh way of looking at ceramics, free from the baggage that comes with crafts’. [2]

Sim Panaser, August 2020

[1] Email from Andrew Lord to Sim Panaser Re: Works in Sainsbury Centre Collection, 17/06/20

[2] Andrew Lord quoted in Amanda Fielding, ‘Andrew Lord: Milton Keynes Gallery’, Ceramics: Art and Perception, 84 (2011), 46-47, (p. 46).