Asymmetrical soliflore in stoneware by Derek Rowe Underground Pottery Australia.

This stoneware vase signed by Derek Rowe takes us to the other side of the world, to a small mining town in the Australian desert where pottery was made… underground. With its slender silhouette and oblique opening with soft contours, it plays on a particularly successful contrast between the natural tones of its clay and the intensity of its interior glaze, a deep blue tinged with turquoise. Its surface, worked in shades of sand, ochre, and brown, is adorned with fine branches dotted with small berries. The plant decoration blends with the irregularities of the material, while a long raised vertical line highlights its unique profile. But the story of this vase is just as interesting as its shape! It is the work of Derek Rowe, an Australian ceramicist from Coober Pedy, an astonishing mining town in the Outback, known for its opals and underground dwellings. In this region where summer temperatures can exceed 45 °C, living underground has long been a way to protect oneself from the heat. It was here that in 1982, his parents, Peter and Konnie Rowe, transformed their underground home into a pottery workshop and exhibition gallery. A true creative space set up in the depths of the desert, where Derek would also practice the craft of pottery. The inscription "Coober Pedy Underground Pottery, " stamped under the base alongside his signature, thus takes on a very special meaning. There is nothing metaphorical about this Underground: the potters truly worked underground! An uncommon provenance, a beautiful freedom of form, and a piece of the artisanal history of the Australian Outback are brought together in this ceramic. The vase is in excellent condition. Height: 25.5 cm. Diameter: 6.5 cm.