Alison West’s wheel-thrown ceramics unite traditional craft with a deep connection to the natural world and a fascination with the unpredictability of fire. Her long-established practice of saggar firing, in which vessels are enclosed in protective containers with foraged organic materials, produces subtle smoke patterns and organic traces across each surface. Every firing welcomes chance, resulting in works marked by distinctive, atmospheric qualities.

Her forms draw inspiration from the refined elegance of classical Greek pottery and the restrained simplicity of Japanese ceramics. Central to her practice is terra sigillata, an ancient Greek and Roman technique that creates an ultra-fine clay slip by separating the smallest clay particles. When burnished and fired, this slip forms a soft, polished surface without glaze. Alison refines Devon wild clays and Ball Clays to make these slips, layering them over Cornish clay forms to express local colour, texture, tradition, and place within a timeless ceramic dialogue.

This wheel-thrown vessel is formed in Cornish stoneware and finished through a saggar-firing process that embraces both intention and unpredictability. The surface is layered with slips made from wild, foraged clays, introducing subtle tonal variation and mineral richness.

The piece is wrapped in plants and placed inside a saggar (a protective container used during firing to hold combustible materials and influence surface effects). During firing, these organic elements burn away, releasing smoke and minerals that interact directly with the clay surface, creating delicate markings, soft transitions, and atmospheric patterning.

Each vessel carries the unique traces of this process. No two surfaces can be repeated; the final appearance emerges through the interplay of fire, plant matter, and mineral content. The work reflects a quiet collaboration between material, landscape, and kiln—capturing a moment of transformation in clay.

Saggar Fired Stoneware

16x18x16cm