Elias Alvarez Studio Pottery Vase · Organic torn rim, abstract painting · Somo, signed

An unusual, hand-formed studio pottery vase with a deliberately asymmetrical, jaggedly torn opening – a design statement that makes the vase more of a sculpture than a classic vessel. The bulbous body features a delicate, rosé-white mottled speckle glaze, while the torn rim zone shimmers in dark cobalt blue-black and ochre-gold speckled decor. On the front, the vase bears a hand-painted abstract figure reminiscent of Joan Miró: a curved burgundy line, a circular "head" in blue-grey, and a spiral eye motif in sage green – a minimalist, symbolic visual language typical of studio ceramics of the 1980s/90s. Dimensions: H 27 cm x W 22.5 cm x D 13 cm.

On the unglazed bottom, the vase is clearly hand-engraved with the signature: "Elias Alvarez" and below it "Somo" – presumably a reference to the town of Somo in Cantabria, Northern Spain. The same signature combination also appeared in an international collector's forum from 2010, where another Elias Alvarez piece from Somo was discussed as presumably Spanish raku or reduction-fired work, without the artist being definitively identified there. No documented catalogues raisonnés or sales records could be found for this name in auction and collector databases; the vase is therefore listed as signed, but otherwise undocumented Spanish studio pottery, whose formal language and craftsmanship stylistically point to the late 1980s to 1990s. The condition is very good: no damage, no chips, cracks or glaze defects visible – only the intentionally irregular rim shape characteristic of the firing process.

A unique piece for collectors of studio and postmodern ceramics: The sculptural silhouette and the freehand-painted imagery make the vase a distinctive object that works as a piece of art even without floral filling.