September 30, 2025

The history of clay is very much the history of the human race. The first pinched and coiled pots date back about 20,000 years. The wheel is a more recent invention and came to Belgium later, about 5,000 years ago. Seeking inspiration for the forms our vessels should take, we’ve looked back in time, wanting to link Common Ground Belgium also to the history and evolution of humanity.

The first image below is of a famous plate, currently part of the Museum of London collection. We loved the spirit of its words, connecting us all to each other and back to the earth. The tin-glazed earthenware plate was found in a London sewer and its creator is unknown.

The next image is from the Royal Museum Mariemont, and is an archaeological piece found in Belgium dating to about the 6th century AD. The Latin characters on the pot simply mean ‘hello’. We found that both an intriguing and marvelous choice. Hello is such a simple word, and yet loaded with so much meaning. It implies an awareness of another and an openness to their presence and what they may need or have to say: Hello, I see you; Hello, how are you?; Hello, can I help you?

The last image is the start of our mood board. Using historical forms as inspiration, and all the primary forms of making (pinching, coiling, slab building, wheel throwing), our plan is first to play and explore different shape possibilities, and also to experiment with words - how can we add our own version of ‘hello’ to the pieces that we make?