Gothic Style Studio Pottery Centerpiece Bowl, United States, 1970s

A dramatically beautiful and deeply unusual large studio pottery bowl of exceptional presence, its wide, shallow form finished in a rich jet-black glaze and fitted with two elaborately constructed handles incorporating coiled, twisted, and applied clay elements with scrolled finials reminiscent of gothic ironwork. At the centre of the bowl, a sunken well is decorated with an abstract biomorphic design in contrasting amber and white glaze, creating a striking focal point. A piece of considerable artistic ambition and sculptural quality that works as much as a wall piece or centrepiece as it does as a vessel.