Archaic Cyprus Bird, 2007

On this, the smaller of the two pitharia (see notes for Ripeness, La Danse) I decided to copy the imagery from the ancient pottery that I had seen in the museum in Nicosia.

The colours suited the environment, the theme was fitting for a Cypriot pot and I had always found the representations of birds lively and amusing. This was a great deal less challenging than trying to replicate Matisse’s La Danse, as I had done on the larger of the pitharia, but I did find that it was not so easy to work finely on the rough texture of the clay. Though smaller, this pot is nevertheless about 2.5 m in circumference.

I used exterior quality house paints and several coats of strong acrylic varnish so that it could stand up to strong sunshine without fading, and heavy weather without flaking. The client arranged for the metal base to be made by a local metal worker.

The work is in Cyprus.