Axel Salto

Hostler Burrows, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2013

Axel Salto, Den Spirende Stil, Copenhagen, 1949, p. 101 (present example illustrated)

Pierre Lübecker, Salto, Copenhagen, 1952, n.p 

Susanne Bruhn and Christina Rauh Oxbøll, eds., Axel Salto: Master of Stoneware, exh. cat., CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark, Middelfart, 2017,  no. 409

Salto was entranced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with its myriad tales of transformation, trickery, and transcendence. He illustrated translations of the ancient text, made images of stories that particularly captivated him – notably, the myth of Diana and Actaeon – and indeed, considered art itself to be an act of magical transmutation. In this unique vase, we see the principle of metamorphosis fully realized. The vessel is conceived as if it were shape-shifting into a flock of birds. They emerge from the neck and shoulders, taking their first blinking glimpses into the sun. The effect is surrealistic, but the overall form is stately, recalling pots from antiquity: Roman gryphons and Chinese phoenixes. 

Glenn Adamson