French Mortar and Pestle

A set of five (5) blue and white French Toile scene cocktail drinks coasters, circa late-20th century. A great set and a necessity for protecting...

A very large French fruitwood corkscrew wine bottle opener. A great piece for a wine cellar, home bar, restaurant, winery, etc. A great decorative p...

Purple Agate Mortar and Pestle, France 1970s Elegant octagonal agate mortar and pestle with a smooth surface. Likely used (originally) for crafting perfumes, or in chemistry blends...

Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's Mortar and Glass Pestle #27 is raku-fired, hand built and hand sculptured. This piece is made of three separate pieces of green rust patinaed wood fired stoneware. "In his process, Hirsch is a reducer, endlessly honing and refining his forms to their simplest and most powerful presence. It is the same “less is more” aesthetic evidenced by the work of Noguchi, Brancusi, and Giacometti, artists he holds in greatest esteem. His content is principally the vocabulary of form, color, and surface, subtly referencing utility while defying overt narration and cultural specificity. A mortar and pestle like this one, for example, might be discernible in a piece, but presented with such economy that it becomes only important as a stand-in for larger issues; their anima/animus relationship or as a record of human use and wear over considerable time. For Hirsch, the particular only exists for the purpose of making the universal palpable. His is a point of view similar...