A113 ('A' Series / Kerryl) Kookaburra vase
SLIP CAST
Does this shape appear in other series? No, not in any other numbering series,
but there does appear to have been a Remued version decades earlier - see below.
There is no sketch in the shape book, just the word 'KOOKA'.
Height; 15 cm.
Collection; Anthony Armstrong
Bases incised A113
TWO SHAPES
The 'A' Series is recorded in shape book 'A', starting at the back page (the front of the book being occupied by the Remued Later Series). Numbers run from A1 to A126. After a gap, however, numbers A101 to A122 are repeated with different shapes. Both versions are shown here.
A113 ('A' Series / Kerryl) Cactus pot
No example is recorded.
Does this shape appear in other series? No - (none recorded).
Height; from shape book, about 15 cm.
Base unmarked, maker unknown. Slip cast.
Hand-incised near the base AUSTRALIA.
Height; 16 cm.
Kerryl's A113 slip-cast kookaburra vase could be be a replica of the souvenir ware above right - or vice-versa. The ultimate original for both, however, is clearly the hand-modelled piece pictured left. Its origin is uncertain although it has been attributed to John Castle-Harris. It is signed Remued so it was made at Premier Pottery not Kerryl and probably pre-dates Kerryl by 25 years or so. It is a jug - ie it has a handle - but is otherwise essentially identical to the vases above.
Although height measurements are often imprecise, the reported heights here do give a basis for guesswork about who copied what. Clay shrinks on drying, so a vase cast in a mould becomes smaller than its mould. This original Remued jug is reportedly 17 cm high, the non-Kerryl souvenir 16 cm, and the Kerryl vase 15 cm. If accurate these measurements suggest that someone (but who?) made their mould from the original Remued jug, and then Kerryl subsequently made their mould from an example of the souvenir ware. A strange cycle of events.
