John Perceval
Angel with lute
John Perceval, who was a member of both the Angry Penguins and
the Antipodeans, had no formal training in art except for six
months at the National Gallery School in 1949. A potter as well as
a painter, Perceval helped Arthur Boyd and John Herbst establish
the AMB Pottery at Murrumbeena in 1944 and from 1949 to 1954
concentrated entirely on the making of pottery.
While involved in the production of domestic earthenware items,
Perceval became increasingly interested in glaze technology and
from 1957 to 1962 he produced a series of angel figures in varying
poses and guises, using a combination of wheel thrown and
sculptural techniques. Angel with lute is one of a number
of angels inspired by figures in Piero della Francesca's
Nativity, in the National Gallery, London. Made from
porcellaneous stoneware the angels were coated with a red-green to
milky glaze discovered while pursuing the 'sang de boeuf' glaze
used by the Chinese, which the artist considered to be too good for
use on domestic items.