I LOVE the figure on the face of this plate, strangely and evocatively elongated like a late-day shadow, and with these two wonderfully trailing inky black lines lending just a bit of definition and also tension. It makes me think of everything from the paintings of Albert Pinkham Ryder to those of de Chirico to the work of Ana Mendieta to the early 20th century photographs of Anne Brigman (look her up!), and Arts & Crafts era craft, too, and I've come to think of her as the 'woman in the dunes' with thoughts of Beckett and Paul Bowles. I usually believe in putting functional pottery to use, but this is one I might hang on the wall.
1970s or so I'd guess. There is an impressed, seemingly abstract mark on the black-glazed rim of the plate but I don't know the maker. Just shy of 10" in diameter, and 1 1/4" tall, fairly heavy, and in excellent condition. There is one rough patch of glaze about the figure to the left, I believe original to the piece. Really lovely.
