RICHARD FREIWALD LUSTERWARE BOTTLE VASE

A tall, bottle-form, cuprous (copper-based) lusterware vase with an incredibly protean texture by contemporary New Jersey ceramic artist Richard Freiwald. The shimmering effects of lusterware are achieved with the application of small amounts of metallic oxides to glazed ceramics—and their re-firing in a reduction (low-oxygen) atmosphere. The second firing, at a temperature high enough to “soften” the under-glaze and break down the metallic compounds, leaves a very thin (perhaps 10- or 20-atoms-thick), largely metal, iridescent layer fused with the main glaze. Lusterware normally only uses a single color per piece, and the palette is restricted. RICHARD FREIWALD (b. 1955) is a celebrated ceramicist and educator from Highland Park, N.J., noted for his refined craftsmanship and evocative designs. His work has been widely exhibited in New Jersey and New York and is held in numerous private and museum collections around the world. Freiwald has earned the particular esteem of collectors wh