Melina Reactive Glaze Ceramic Vase - Olive & Natural

The Melina is a ceramic vase 24cm high and 24cm wide, with a body that swells to its widest point near the shoulder, draws in to a small flat base and narrows sharply to a short straight collar. The glaze is reactive: an olive brown lies over the upper two thirds and runs down in streaks and drips, breaking off in a ragged line against the speckled cream below it. Where the olive pools it goes glossy, and where it thins it turns almost white.

The opening is 11cm across, wide enough to take a handful of stems and narrow enough to hold them where they are put. At 24cm high and 24cm wide this is a squat vase rather than a tall one, so it sits under a shelf or in the middle of a table without cutting across a line of sight. The drips all run the same way, so the vase has a front and a back depending on where the heaviest run falls.

The vase is ceramic, glazed by hand. The reactive glaze changes in the heat of the kiln, so the height at which the olive stops, the number of drips and the depth of the colour differ on every vase, and the two tones never meet on the same line twice. The colour is recorded as olive and natural, which is the olive of the glaze over the natural ground beneath it.

How big is the vase?

24cm high and 24cm wide, with an opening 11cm across.

What is a reactive glaze?

A glaze that moves and changes in the heat of the kiln rather than staying where it is put, which is what gives the runs and the drips.

Will every vase look the same?

Not exactly. The olive stops at a different height on every vase and the drips fall differently, so no two are alike.

What is it made from?

Ceramic.

How do I look after it?

Wipe it over with a soft, damp cloth, and wash it in warm soapy water when it needs more than that. Keep harsh chemicals and abrasive cleaners off the glaze. It is for indoor use only.