Black Vessel for the Traces of Our Young Lords and Their Spirits – Vessel #5

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A stoneware sculpture by Theaster Gates. The sculpture (2024.38.1a) is a large cylinder shaped vessel with a flat bottom and a rounded top. It has a dark glaze that appears in tones of grey, black, brown, and rust. It is covered in short, uniformally shaped ceramic spikes. Arranged in rows, the spikes cover the entire object. At the very top of the vessel is a small round opening with uniformly jagged edges, resembling a sun or starburst. The stoneware vessel sits on a plinth (2024.38.1b) made from a block of roughly hewn ash wood. The plinth also has a roughly cylindrical shape and is slightly wider that the sculpture.

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