A N N U A L R E P O R T - The Ashmolean Museum

40 / Highlights of the Annual Report 2004–05
Elliptical Series V (2003)
Martin Smith (b.1950). Oval vessel of brick red clay
on a flat base of black-painted clay, the interior
silvered, base, 42.9 x 35.8 cm, H. 15.5 cm. Purchased
from Barrett Marsden Gallery with funds presented by
an anonymous donor.
Martin Smith is Professor of Ceramics and Glass
at the Royal College of Art and one of Britain’s
most original ceramic artists. This piece was made
for his 2003 solo exhibition at the Galerie de
Witte Voet in Amsterdam, a five-part
investigation into the occupation of the space
contained within a hollow elliptical cylinder.
Each inner space was divided in two through the
insertion of an elliptical block whose cut faces
were treated with different colours that reflected
in the platinum leaf covered inner surface of the
cylinder.
Ceramic vessel (c.1975)
Hans Coper (1920–1980). Oval pot with indentations
on cylindrical foot. Dark clay with black and white
slips and incised lines around, H. 18.3 cm, impressed
mark beneath: HC. Presented by Henry Rothschild.
This characteristic vessel, monumental despite its
small size, is the first work to enter the
Ashmolean by Coper, the greatest and most
influential exponent of sculptural vases in
twentieth-century British ceramic vessel-making.
The donor is one of Britain’s leading collectors
and specialists in modern studio ceramics.