Axel Salto

Hostler Burrows, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2014

Susanne Bruhn and Christina Rauh Oxbøll, eds., Axel Salto: Master of Stoneware, exh. cat., CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark, Middelfart, 2017,  no. 388

The lizard – a living whiplash line – was a favored subject of the Art Nouveau period, including at Royal Copenhagen, which produced bowls with one of the creatures perched along the rim. Salto also used the motif, treating it (typically for him) in a less conventionally naturalistic manner, instead using the sinuous form to establish the rhythm of a composition. In this rare wall plaque, a trio of the reptiles are executed in what could be life size. Their bodies and feet fit neatly together, nearly tessellating, as in an M. C. Escher print. Salto’s green “Sung” glaze produces the effect of a mossy outcropping punctuated with stones. The lizards crawl over and through the little landscape, guided only by instinct. Entirely non-functional, the plaque is a chunk of nature plucked from its surroundings, brought indoors for appreciation.

Glenn Adamson