Let me introduce you to a throwaway material that’s thousands of years old.
Earthenware is instantly recognizable. Turn a piece over until you find a patch of unglazed surface, and rub a wetted finger along it. The clay is dry again in seconds. Unglazed – or "biscuit" – earthenware pots are extremely porous, drinking up water the same way as parched earth, presumably hence the name. Adding a layer of slip (liquid clay) or glaze makes earthenware as waterproof as its vitrified cousins, with one big difference: it’s easier and cheaper to make (yet ages just as winningly). And that’s why earthenware’s the number one ceramic of the ancient world.
And perfect for the modern one, too. Earthenware was everywhere around me when I worked for 5 years in an English pottery in the mid-90s. And look at the sterling work of António Marques in Portugal right now – using traditional methods, he creates black earthenware products that look as arrestingly gorgeous as the ancient Greek pieces I saw in my last trip to Athens. For me, the Hidden Trick Pitcher is the highlight, screaming "fill me with good wine!" and shining like polished marble.
Marques’s work aside, earthenware is eminently disposable, degrading back into kaolin, clay, quartz and fledspar (given enough time). But who says we can’t make use of all the pieces first?
Hidden Trick Pitcher: around $130 from Very Typical artisan outlet.
Image: Unhindered by Talent