A photograph of an organic looking ceramic bottle form covered in a crawling white glaze with blue, green, black, yellow, and red over glazes, by Andrew Cornell Robinson — Generalife
2019, majolica glazed stoneware with over glazes and under glazes, 17 x 8 x 5 inches

Generalife
2019, majolica glazed stoneware with over glazes and under glazes, 17 x 8 x 5 inches

Detail of Generalife
2019, majolica glazed stoneware with over glazes and under glazes, 17 x 8 x 5 inches

Generalife Bottle Vase

Overlooking the city of Granada lies the Alhambra, a fortified palace built by Moorish kings in the Andalucía region of Spain. The palace is nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Adjacent to the Alhambra is an intricate series of gardens known as “Generalife,” loosely translated as the Architect’s Garden. Drawing inspiration from the untamed allure of the gardens and the ingenious adaptations of tin-glazes introduced by Moorish ceramists on the Iberian Peninsula, I have fashioned this undulated bottle vase. Through the utilization of a crawling tin-glaze technique, I have sought to evoke the colors of the resplendent Generalife gardens and the meandering tendrils of wild vines, imbuing this vessel with the essence of their lush greenery.