Studio Pottery Square Dish with Fused Glass Pool in Blue and Green

A hand built studio pottery square dish with a fused glass pool in blue and green. A small square dish with a surprise in the middle. The body is hand built pottery in a soft grey white glaze, with corners that lift gently like a piece of paper left on a windowsill, and set into the centre is a pool of fused glass in deep blue, teal and a streak of green. It looks like looking down at the sea from a plane. We have found ourselves picking it up more than once just to tilt it and watch the colours shift.

Fusing glass into ceramic is a lovely piece of studio craft. The glass is melted in the kiln so that it settles into a dip in the clay, and as it cools it crazes and bubbles in ways the maker cannot fully control. That is what gives the centre its depth, with darker blues sinking to the bottom and lighter turquoise floating on top. No two pieces made this way come out the same.

It measures 13 cm square and stands 3 cm high at the corners, which makes it exactly the right size for rings and earrings on a dressing table, a couple of tea bags beside the kettle, or a few sea glass finds from a walk on the beach. It also holds its own as a small object simply set on a shelf or a stack of books, where the colour does all the work.

The base is signed Willo in a neat hand. We have not traced the maker with certainty, but the quality of the work speaks for itself. Condition is excellent, with no wear to the glaze and the glass pool bright and intact. The corners have the slight unevenness of something shaped by hand rather than moulded, which is entirely the point.

We photographed it on the kitchen table beside a green glass bottle and it looked very at home. If your house leans towards sea colours and pale walls, this will slot in without any fuss.