Vessel with four spouts

Notes

Lephina Molefe, daughter of Dinah Molefe was born in 1926 and worked at the studio between 1973 and 1983.

This sculptural piece is an example of the hybridisation of traditional form and personal expression. It was produced during the time of Marietjie van der Merwe as studio consultant. Works produced under her supervision are very expressive and sculptural, combining complex combinations of hand-built and thrown forms. Decorated with relief patterns and sculptural additions, the vessel defies convention and breaks radically with Western traditional pottery expectations.

Rorke's Drift ceramic studio was founded in 1966 by Kirstin Olsson. It is housed in the Art and Craft Centre of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa in KwaZulu-Natal. The studio produced a variety of utilitarian wares, including crockery, tea services, mugs, vases and bowls, as well as expressive, sculptural vessels. Wares were designed to find markets in Sweden and South Africa and recall both indigenous traditions combined with distinctly European forms.

The potters set a precedent amongst South African black potters by signing their works on the base of the pottery and further adding the date and kiln data alongside the leaf logo of Rorke’s Drift. This practice copied Western potters who identified their works with potter’s marks, signatures or monograms.