Kreutz Keramik, 10cm

For those of you who have space to display your full collection of ceramics, I envy you. I have several large bookshelves full of books, but only one has space on top where I can (safely) display anything… we did have a serious earthquake a few years back, so the idea of vases taking a swan dive off a more precarious perch is not a remote one. I change the vases up, sometimes according to the seasons, but it makes for a frustrating experience as I can never truly enjoy the depth and breadth of my collection. I did haul half of my vases to an antiques show last winter, where I finally had the chance to create a large display — and even if I hadn’t made a dime from the show, seeing all those wonderful colors and shapes together would have made it all worthwhile. So back to the little piece, here. As 99% of what I own is stored, I sometimes like to open a box and unwrap a vase or two just to remind myself of what I have. One of the vases I plucked out of obscurity this week was this Kreutz, which often slips my memory due to its small size. With its flowing streams of orange and yellow glaze cascading from a volcano-like neck before cooling into a rocky black bottom, it is the true embodiment of the term “lava vase” and displays better than most vases many times its size. And therein lies the problem: WHERE to display it. I’d hate to banish this to the basement again… perhaps a reprieve is in order. Work desk, anyone?