Lot Essay
David Roberts has an international reputation as a leading practitioner in the ceramic art of raku. He is considered to be responsible for the introduction of contemporary large-scale raku in Europe. Roberts began his career as an art teacher having studied ceramics as part of his degree in education at Bretton Hall, Yorkshire. His influence from land forms can be seen in Eroded Vessel with its rock-like striations on the surface and the interior containing a secret to be 'revealed most dramatically when seen from directly above: a perpetual movement of concentric lines, with a vortex-like power to draw the eye into the magical beauty of the vessel’s interior space’ (L. Green, Painting with Smoke: David Roberts, Raku Potter, 2009, p. 83).