Wheel-House

A mesmerizing, counterclockwise spinning wheel plus the careful coaxing of wet earth creates a host of ceramic expressions that range from the tiniest vessels to towering structures. Sure, throwing pots is super trendy right now, but the Egyptian deity Khnum was said to have created human life by forming actual children on the potter’s wheel – so our love affair with the mystique of this turning device is nothing new. In fact, you can thank the practical art form of pottery for the wheel as a concept and invention at all – the first wheels were built for claymaking, and it wasn’t until hundreds of years later that they were used to move chariots.

Whether by hand-turning or by kicking, the earliest wheels were used in Mesopotamia, China, South Asia and the Balkan Peninsula as far back as 6000-4000 BC (there is some archaeologic scholarly debate as to origin of the wheel but the Chinese were definitely making and using pottery 20,000 years ago, with the oldest functional ceramic remnants found there). Even with the recent advent of the motorized wheel, many studio potters still love the feel and results that are born from an analog approach to centrifugal force, and choose to connect with the earth in a more simplistic and time-tested way.

In earthenware, stoneware or porcelain, Shoppe Object has a wide range of handsome ceramics for your dining, flower-arranging, organizing, storage and decorative pleasure. And with all the ritual slapping, molding, slipping, sliding, squeezing, lifting, jiggering and jolleying that goes into crafting these beautiful wares, we can’t help but think that wheel-throwing might be one of the sexiest ways to play with clay. It’s one thing humans really got right!