Designed by Marea Gazzard (born 1928). Gazzard trained in ceramics in 1953-54 at East Sydney Technical College, and at London Central School for Arts and Crafts in 1956-57. Unlike most potters of the time, she was less interested in Oriental-inspired wheelthrown forms, and more interested in handbuilt vessel forms, influenced by modernist design, Cycladic sculpture (from her own Greek background), and other archaelogical forms such as pre-Colombian pottery and sculpture. 'Dial 1', was made in Australia after Gazzard returned to Australia, and is one of a series where she 'abandoned all suggestion of a container and presented forms which are completely contained apart from a slash or narrow opening' (Christine France 1994, p50). This was a precursor for later works which culminated in controversial 'milestone' exhibitions like 'Clay and Fibre' in 1973, and in commsssions like 'Mingarri- the Little Olgas' 1984-88, for the new Parliament House in Canberra. Her work contains references to landscape forms and more particularly, as with 'Dial 1', to human torsos and heads.
The following excerpt comes from the preaccession screen "Gazzard is important in the chronology of Australian postwar ceramics, as a significant and influential innovator. It is interesting in that her work draws on the ceramic and sculptural traditions of earlier cultures and yet is also in a modernist tradition. Gazzard is significant, not only for her consistent pursuit of a particular direction in ceramic work, but also for her professional roles in the development of the crafts in Australia. She was the first President of the Crafts Council of Australia in 1971 and the first Chair Person of the Australia Council in 1973, and was elected World Crafts Council Vice-President for Asia in 1972 and the President of the WCC in 1982."
Made by Marea Gazzard in her studio in Windsor Street, Paddington in 1966. Gazzard's work was characterised by her use of handforming rather than wheel-throwing; she handcoiled the clay into forms, then beat or paddled the surface, before inscribing it with sgraffito lines and rubbing in oxides.
The following excerpt is taken from the preaccession screen "Gazzard's work used simple handforming techniques to make monumental forms with a sculptural presence. They are primitive, yetmodern, subtle and yet complex. Her abstraction of human form and landscapeforms through these ceramic techniques made her work very different from othersworking at the time".
Exhibited in Gallery A, Paddington in 1966, in a solo exhibition where Gazzard explored four series: Boulder, Dial, Torso and Shield. Remained in the collection of the artist.
The following excerpt from the preaccession screen discusses the exhibitions in which Marea Gazzard exhibited. "Gazzard is one of the most influential ceramic artists to have worked in Australia in the postwar period. Her ideas and processes ran counter to the prevailing Oriental ideology for much of this time, yet was very influential and even controversial. The 1973 exhibition Clay + Fibre, where Gazzard's work was shown with weaving by Mona Hessing at both the Bonython Gallery in Sydney and the National Gallery of Victoria, provoked a range of critical reviews by eg. Patrick McCaughey, Alan McCulloch and Donald Brook, mainly centred around the dilemma of whether these forms were art or craft. Gazzard's work shows a consistent development from the early non-vessel forms like Dial 1 and through the strong statements of the white 1972 pairs of Delos and Gazi, to the monumental forms of the 1990s like Milos 1, already in the collection. The proposed acquisitions are key items of their time, and are now extremely difficult to obtain. The recent retrospective exhibition of Gazzard's work (SH Ervin gallery, 1994) and the publication of Christine France's book, 'Marea Gazzard, Form and Clay', Art and Australia 1994, has reinforced her significance in Australian ceramic history."
Remained in collection of the artist since 1966.
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