WILLEM GEBBEN Tenmoku TEAPOT - good Kaki (Persimmon) & Green Dots w. Rattan Cane Handle. Lg. - Holds almost 32 oz./4 Cups. Wood-fired.

Willem Gebben makes traditional wood-fired stoneware and porcelain at his studio, HILLCREST POTTERY, in rural Wisconsin. Gebben's beautiful handmade pottery is not only useful, it also adds to the creativity, because of its beauty, in the daily routine of cooking and dining.

This Tenmoku TEAPOT is of a Dark Brown/Black color and decorated with Kaki (Persimmon) - almost Burgundy colored Dots - along with Green Dots. Tenmoku is a type of Japanese pottery and porcelain that originated from emulating Chinese stoneware (Jian ware) of the southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). This Teapot has a Rattan Handle which was made in England from rattan cane. These English cane teapot handles are naturally glossy and water resistant. The woven rings that hold down the tails are also made of the same.

The Teapot is approx. 8 inches high including the handle and 7 inches wide (from spout to handle). It holds almost 32 oz. (4 Cups) of liquid. It has one small hole on lid for steam. There are also 14 holes at the base of the spout for straining tea. This Teapot is glazed inside and out and can be used for Tea or for Steeping an Herbal Mix.

There is a Maker's Mark for Willem Gebben (his Hillcrest Pottery) on the Teapot.

Note: Because of the rich dark color, these Tenmoku pieces of pottery are difficult for the "amateur" photographer to capture without some glare. (Please excuse my photography.)

Further Note: None of the pots contain lead, and they are dishwasher safe and ideal for the oven and microwave.

All of Gebben's pots are made using techniques that are thousands of years old. They are formed by hand on a foot-powered wheel and individually glazed, loaded into the kiln, and fired. Because of these processes, each pot is unique - no two are exactly alike.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Willem Gebben is a traditional potter making functional pots. Born in Delft, the Netherlands, he received his BS degree from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, and in 1976 apprenticed with master potter David Eeles at Shepherds Well Pottery in Mosterton, Dorset, England.

Gebben's impressive work is included in private collections throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Japan. Also, Gebben is part of the Western Wisconsin Pottery Tour, an annual fall tour of Wisconsin ceramic artists' studios.

His wood-fired stoneware and porcelain pots have been featured in numerous periodicals, books such as THE ART OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POTTERY (Krause Publications) and WOOD-FIRED CERAMICS - CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES (University of Pennsylvania Press), and also television shows. Public collections of his work include Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND; University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN; Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI; The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI; and the United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan.

The main emphasis of Gebben is to create a wide variety of wood-fired functional pottery. Using techniques that are thousands of years old, Willem mixes and dries the clay himself, then forms each piece by hand on a foot-powered wheel, applying home-made glazes before firing the new pots in wood-burning kilns. It takes 18 hours to achieve a temperature of 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit; then the good pottery creations are allowed to slowly cool.

Gebben's sure sense of form and expert handling of surface, texture, and detailing make each piece a true work of art. His pottery consists of Once-fired, Wood-fired, and Salt-Glazed Stoneware as well as Porcelain.

You can view examples of his work in the "Gallery" Section under the heading "Ceramics" on Portal.Wisconsin, (www.portalwisconsin.org) an online gallery to promote the arts in Wisconsin. Also, you can watch a YouTube video of Willem Gebben at work (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgb-OsYvVS0).

ARTIST STATEMENT:
“It is important for me to work within the traditional role of potter;
making pots that are meant to be used.
It is this aspect of craft that separates it from the other arts,
such as painting or sculpture. It is through the elements of touch and use
that the communication between the object and the user occurs.

I am also very interested in form,
which in large part is what the art of pottery is about;
the tactile qualities, the weight, how the pots feel in the hand.

In this age of increasing dependence on machine-made things
and the worship of technology,
I think it is essential that handmade objects are still made
and used as a way for us to communicate with each other.”