Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Jug, red earthenware with coloured glazes, assymetrical in form, standing on a broad foot with crimped edge, with bulbous stem and slightly bellied body, the rim fluid with an upright lip, flange on the lower neck, the lower part of the handle terminating in a single scroll, decorated over the surface with multicoloured glazes and slips, including brown slip on the foot, with salmon pink around the body, drips of glaze, NB white, yellow, brown, red and green flowing freely from the rim and down the upper body, including two long streaks of vibrant red glaze either side of the pouring lip, light blue-green streaks on the interior rim and neck, incised under the glaze with a cross hatch pattern.

Simon Carroll’s unconventional approach to pottery was a celebration of imperfection. His work has been described as ‘wild and wicked’, exuberant and playful, as breaking all the rules. These deliberately unbalanced forms were assembled from wheel-thrown and press-moulded sections, then painted with coloured slips and glazes.