Studio Stoneware Bowl - KARL SPÖRCK

This bowl by Karl Spörck (1949-) of Brisling Pottery in Suttons Bay, Michigan was hand thrown of stoneware clay. Beautifully glazed in a speckled, high gloss teal green/blue, it's decorated with a stylized, wax-resist flower in a shade of blue that leans toward lavender, then outlined in black like the speckles. The same leaves are circling around the outside of the bowl. The upper rim has a groove running under it and the bottom edge of the bowl is dry, as is the bottom, which is incised with the following:

Jan 21
K. Spörck
Gray Day
all day.
Cold
2001

The bowl weighs 1 pound 14 ounces, measures 7 1/2 inches across and 3 inches high. On some of the photos of the inside of the bowl, there are white dots that appear as chips in the glaze, but are in reality very shiny little dots of glaze. The color of the bowl varies from greenish to bluish, depending on the lighting, which is also shown in our photos. It's in excellent condition, a handsome find from a superb potter.

There is much information on the web about this potter, so we'll keep it brief. He was also a professor at Northwestern Michigan University, where he earned his degrees and the 2006 Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award. He established his studio in 1976 on the Leelanau Peninsula "on a good road" and named it Brisling Pottery. (Brisling are small sardines harvested off the coast of Norway, where Spörck's family had its roots.) His sales building was a tiny, cedar shake building, where you purchased his pottery on the honor system. Karl is retired from potting now, so his existing pieces are more prized than ever.

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