Woman with Snail Decorative Plate

Inspired by the ancestral relationship between humankind and animals, this hand-painted decorative ceramic plate belongs to a series depicting different creatures with a graceful young woman. Crafted and painted by hand, the white clay is first molded on a lathe and painted in black and white, with the yellow color of the girl's dotted blouse reprised in the snail's shell perched atop her head. A deft use of the ingobbio technique, the plate is fired twice in the kiln, first at 1000°C, subsequently glazed, and fired again at 930°C to set the glossy finish.