Komfoor van steengoed met zoutglazuur 1901

This is Joseph Mendes da Costa’s stoneware Komfoor, a kind of footed brazier with a salt glaze. Imagine Mendes da Costa, in his studio, working the clay, coaxing it into this rounded form. The clay has a cool grey tone with a kind of pebbled finish. He’s added these cool details, like the little roundels, framing both the ventilation holes and decorating the top and bottom. And the thick, glossy glaze in shades of brown and blue, it makes the surface look almost like a weathered stone. It’s a bit industrial, like a friendly machine part. I think about all the artists who are working with clay, and the way Mendes da Costa here is speaking to that tradition, while adding something new. It’s a way of thinking through material, through process, through the history of objects, but also, like, with humor? It's like he's saying, "Hey, let's see what this thing can do."