Alchemy And Gold

This large ceramic sculpture was wheel turned and is entirely glazed with gold. “Alchemic mastery” was the name given to “lustre” in the Middle Ages, and to endow a matt, humble material like clay with a golden appearance, was the ultimate goal of majolica decorators, and a practice worthy of alchemy. The origins of the technique behind the process of chemical reduction involved in producing the lustre effect on already fired pieces of ceramic, goes back to the Arabs.