Classics in Clay

One notable weakness of most contemporary art has been the decline in artistic craftsmanship. Among the exceptions to the rule is a lanky Santa Fe potter named Warren Gilbertson, 42, who combines the artist's soaring imagination with the craftsman's practical knowledge of his tools. Last week he was demonstrating the fact anew with a series of glowing vases, cups and bowls which looked extraordinarily like China's classic Sung dynasty Chien-yao ware (better known by its Japanese name: Temmoku).

Dappled Gleam. Ceramists have long guessed that the purplish Temmoku glazes with distinctive "oil spots" must require a combination of natural clays rich in iron, fused with something like wood ash. If cooled down quickly after baking, such a mixture is shot through with spots or streaks. But while a spotty glaze is the easiest thing in the world to obtain, the Temmoku glaze with a deep, dappled gleam is apparently one of the hardest. The secret of making it has been lost for about 750 years. Experimenting over the past few months with a variety of natural clays and fusing materials, Gilbertson finally managed to produce a glaze almost indistinguishable from the Temmoku. Says he of his formula: "It's my secret now."

Gilbertson's success as an artist craftsman results partly from his diligence as a student. He first studied ceramics at Chicago's Art Institute and at Carnegie Tech. Later he got a master's degree at New York State's College of Ceramics. Not content with formal training, Gilbertson also sat at the feet of Pueblo Indian squaws to learn their pottery methods. Then he crossed the Pacific and apprenticed himself for two years to Kon-jiro Kawai, a ceramist much honored in Japan.

Bronze Ring. One of the last Americans to leave Japan before Pearl Harbor, Gilbertson enlisted in the Navy and was sent straight back to the Orient as an intelligence officer. After the war he stayed on for a year in Korea. Throughout his adventures, Gilbertson kept exploring the secrets of his craft. "In the Orient," he explains, "you can always find people who share your passion for ceramics and will discuss them by the hour. China has as many collectors of ceramics as we have chamber music fans."

For the last three years Gilbertson has worked by himself in a small adobe studio in Santa Fe. He has invented such surprising objects as ceramic bells which ring like bronze, and such bestsellers as oval flowerpots for use on narrow city windowsills. He keeps both his output and his prices low, makes a bare living from his work.

To keep his art up to snuff, Gilbertson constantly measures it against the few classic pieces he brought back with him from the Orient. Like them, Gilbertson's own ceramics are deceptively simple in form and subtle in color, with the kind of restrained beauty that soon outgrows the merely decorative.

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