Gốm sứ mỹ nghệ · Fine ceramics · Edition of 12
Blue-and-white plate, lotus
Men lam — blue-and-white; cobalt painted under a clear glaze, the ware the village is known for since the trading ships.
Phạm Văn Đức
The blue-and-white that filled the holds of fifteenth-century ships, made the old way: cobalt brushed freehand onto the raw clay, a clear glaze over it, a wood fire. The lotus is painted by Đức’s sister, who learned the brush from their mother.
A plate for the table or the wall. The blue sits under the glaze and will not wear.
- Materials
- White river clay, cobalt, clear glaze
- Technique
- Thrown; cobalt brushed by hand; wood-fired
- Dimensions
- Ø 28 × 3 cm · Ø 11 × 1.2 in · 0.9 kg
- Edition
- Edition of 12 · Signed and sealed
- Made
- Bát Tràng, Gia Lâm · 2026
The making
One firing, in four movements
The brush decides a blue-and-white plate in a minute; the fire takes a day.
I
The clay
Thrown and left to firm.
II
The brush
Cobalt painted freehand on the raw plate.
III
The glaze
Clear glaze dipped over the cobalt.
IV
The fire
Wood-fired through the night; opened at dawn.
From the same village
