Ceramic

A pot fired in grass comes out smoky and burnished; a celadon comes out green as deep water. Antique ceramic and pottery from China, Japan, Mexico and Africa run from glazed porcelain to hand-built earthenware fired in open pits. Chinese ginger jars, Longquan celadon, wine storage jars and the hard ceramic pillows once used by sleepers in imperial China sit beside Japanese stoneware, Pueblo-style vessels and ollas made by Nahua potters in Mexico. From Niger come Bura funerary jars; from Uganda, the smoke-blackened pots of the Baganda; from Mali and Burkina Faso, the coiled water and storage vessels of Dogon, Bambara, Bobo, Lobi and Mossi potters.

Glaze and clay set the mood: the green depth of celadon, cobalt on white porcelain, the smoky burnish of a pot fired in grass. A pair of ginger jars anchors a dining table; one wide-bellied vessel standing on a terrazzo floor has the presence of sculpture. Fire, remembered in clay.