Summary:
Tessa Kidick
White Hypotrochoid over Blue Spiral
Plate
Studio Pottery
20th Century
Description & Notes: Canadian Mid-Century Modern studio pottery plate by Ontario potter Tessa Kidick. Known for, among other things, unique glaze effects and textures; Kidick is chronicled in Crawford as stating, “Wherever I went I collected interesting rocks. I’d use a hammer, crush rocks to a powder to get textural qualities. I wanted the design to shout at you.” This plate shows this inescapable texture. It’s not just in the glaze but extends into/out of the form of the object itself. The spiral motion traces the potters’ action and asks the user to recall the plate’s creation, communicating a live transference of memory through traced action. Or to put it plainly, the look and feeling are like vanilla icing dripped from a spirograph over a blueberry sauce.
The large plate is thrown with a deep finger well and covered in a frothy deep blue glaze, brushed circularly in a frothy white, then further painted with a complex white drip hypotrochoid.
“I love her glazes, she was able to get the colour of the sky after a rain.”
Dimensions: 10 ¾” Diameter
Markings: inscribed signature on base, “Tessa / Kidick’
Condition: Very Good Vintage Condition. For accuracy: there is a single glaze chip (⅛”) at the furthermost edge.