Hand built ceramic lidded box, mottled green surface, small bird finial in blue-grey and black.
A small bird sits at the seam, head down, watching whatever's inside rather than what's outside. That's the whole gesture: not perched to fly off, but settled right at the opening, keeping watch over the box rather than the world around it.
The body of the box reads almost like packed ground or lichened stone, mottled and textured all the way round, the black line where lid meets base left visible rather than smoothed away. Nothing about the surface asks to be handled carefully. It's built for keeping something, not for display alone.
Built in stoneware, lid and base thrown or built separately and fitted, the seam left as a deliberate dark line rather than disguised. Underglaze worked in layers for the mottled green, the bird finial finished separately in pale blue-grey with a dark bill and eye.
Stoneware, underglaze. 7.5 x 8 x 6 cm. 2026.
