C. 1970s Unique Studio Pottery Gender Fluid Themed Vessel "Unicorn Eruption"

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A fascinating piece of American stoneware by a skilled but anonymous maker, ca. 1970s. Discovered recently in a New Hampshire … Read more A fascinating piece of American stoneware by a skilled but anonymous maker, ca. 1970s. Discovered recently in a New Hampshire barn, the slab built vessel is fashioned to resemble an open tree stump, one side featuring a protruding appendage and a suggestive orifice under the curious title “Unicorn Eruption”. Its maker may have studied philosophy or anthropology as well as pottery making, since the accompanying quotes in fine calligraphy upon the reverse side address some weighty themes of sexuality and gender fluidity. The first passage, by the 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, would only have meaning to those familiar with the homoerotic poems he dedicated to his teacher, Shams of Tabriz, among the earliest in the spiritual writings of any civilization. The second quotation is from a work by the early 20th century psychologist and anthropologist Géza Róheim, which makes note of the sacred ritual stones of the indigenous Australian people (‘tjurunga”) which are often phallic in form. The “primal scene” in psychoanalytical usage refers to the child’s sight or knowledge of sexual relations between their parents while the “combined parent” is a Freudian concept in which the early infant fuses a mother’s breast and father’s penis into a single figure of emotional sustenance. Considering this work of art is from a less awakened era half a century ago, the deliberate coding of its messaging is not surprising. Issues of homosexuality or gender dysphoria were not always easily discussed in common society. Artists and writers for centuries could only hint at their truths or find various creative ways to mask their voices without the luxury of explicit speech. See less