Isabel Halley Ceramics Handmade Porcelain Pinch Pot: Multicolored Speckle

Why We Love This

This tiny, impossibly thin bowl is as delicate as it is functional. The brightly colored speckled finish is vibrant and subtle at the same time, and reminds us of a confetti cake. We love that the bowl can sit on an altar or dresser, safeguarding rings or crystals, or can be used for spices, salts or chopped herbs in the kitchen or on a table.

Story

The colored speckles in the clay are made by hand-mixed, ground, fired and sifted. The bowl itself is hand-pinched from the center out to the rim, as far as the porcelain clay will stretch. That makes for an organic form, giving each bowl different waves, grooves, shape and personality. The speckles are then wedged into the porcelain. No two works are exactly alike.

About the Maker

Isabel Halley’s slightly rustic, shimmering, heirloom-quality pottery is, in part, inspired by her Louisiana grandmother’s formal gold-rimmed china. The artist, who grew up in New York, has a fascination with early 20^th Century English porcelain, but modernizes that look with her own pinch process. The master ceramicist started sculpting items in kindergarten-with Silly Putty and other types of kids-but after ceramics classes and a degree in visual arts, she switched to more adult materials, like porcelain, to craft a line of pearly pieces. Like the human spirit, her art is imperfect and perfect all at once.