Artwork Details
- Title
- Communion
- Artist
- Date
- 1998
- Location
- Dimensions
- overall: 20 1⁄4 in. × 22 in. (51.4 × 55.9 cm) weight: 58.4 lb. (26.5 kg)
- Copyright
- © 1998, James Watkins
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- ceramic
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Object — other — container
- Object Number
- 2020.56
Artwork Description
James Watkins shaped this double-walled ceramic cauldron from memories of his childhood on a farm in Athens, Alabama. His mother and grandmother cooked and cleaned in black cast-iron pots reminiscent of Communion. The repeating rim motif emulates the pickets of a cattle fence built by his father. Watkins has transformed a pot from an essential farm tool into an expressive reminder of shared family experiences.
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022
Verbal Description
A massive ceramic pot with thick walls and a color like ebony — a deep, shiny black. This color was created with fired earthenware and a dark glaze. Nearly sixty pounds, this cauldron-like pot is one and half foot round and nearly two feet tall. The lower three-quarters of the outside surface has a rough texture, made up of many carved lines that create a flowing, wavy pattern like woven fabric. About three quarters of the way up, the form slightly indents and the texture changes to a smooth, shiny surface. The large rim of the pot has an open chain-like design made up of intersecting loops that lean slightly to the left. The inside of the pot is smooth, and the glaze is like a glittering bronze. At the bottom, there is a gently carved spiral.
Exhibitions
