WILLEM GEBBEN Stacking Mugs: Coffee, CAPPUCCINO, Latte, Tea. Unique Set of 4. outlet Stack 2 or all 4 In a Tower. Save Space. Wood-Fired Pottery.

Willem Gebben makes traditional wood-fired stoneware and porcelain at his studio, HILLCREST POTTERY, in rural Wisconsin.

These Stylish and Clever Stacking Mugs with Sturdy Handles are an Earthy Shade of Brown (Raw) with Gray/Tan swirled interiors. They come as a set of four, though each is a tiny bit different, as is the case with Wood-Fired Pottery. These small Mugs each hold almost 8 oz. ( 1 Cup) and could be used for Cappuccino, Latte, Tea, Coffee, or for any small beverage. Each Mug is between 3 to 3 1/2 inches high, and they fit together just fine in no specific order. They are easy to hold - either by the handle or by wrapping your hand around the petite base. AND they take up less space in your cupboard when they are stacked!

Note: There is a Maker's Mark for Hillcrest Pottery, Willem Gebben's Pottery, in a circle by the base of each Mug.

Gebben's beautiful handmade pottery is not only useful, it also adds creativity to your daily life and adds beauty to your home or office. IMPORTANT: None of the pottery made by Gebben contains lead, and they are dishwasher safe and ideal for the oven and microwave.

The main emphasis of Gebben is to create a wide variety of wood-fired functional pottery. Using techniques that are thousands of years old, Willem mixes and dries the clay himself, then forms each piece by hand on a foot-powered wheel, applying home-made glazes before firing the new pots in wood-burning kilns. These kilns, designed after ancient Chinese models, are what give Willem's pieces a sturdy grace and quiet beauty. To achieve this look, cords of wood are burned below the chambers in which the pottery has been painstakingly stacked. It takes 18 hours to achieve a temperature of 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit; then the pottery creations are allowed to slowly cool. Because of these processes, each pot is unique - no two are exactly alike.

Be aware that sometimes the camera leaves flash patterns on the photos & colors change with natural light vs. artificial lights.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Willem Gebben is a traditional potter making functional pots. Born in Delft, the Netherlands, he received his BS degree from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, and in 1976 apprenticed with master potter David Eeles at Shepherds Well Pottery in Mosterton, Dorset, England.

Gebben's impressive work is included in private collections throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Japan. Also, Gebben is part of the Western Wisconsin Pottery Tour, an annual fall tour of Wisconsin ceramic artists' studios.

His wood-fired stoneware and porcelain pots have outlet been featured in numerous periodicals, books such as THE ART OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POTTERY (Krause Publications) and WOOD-FIRED CERAMICS - CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES (University of Pennsylvania Press), and also television shows. Public collections of his work include Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND; University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN; Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI; The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI; and the United States Embassy, Tokyo, Japan.

The main emphasis of Gebben is to create a wide variety of wood-fired functional pottery. Using techniques that are thousands of years old, Willem mixes and dries the clay himself, then forms each piece by hand on a foot-powered wheel, applying home-made glazes before firing the new pots in wood-burning kilns. It takes 18 hours to achieve a temperature of 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit; then the pottery creations are allowed to slowly cool.

Gebben's sure sense of form and expert handling of surface, texture, and detailing make each piece a true work of art. His pottery consists of Once-fired, Wood-fired, and Salt-Glazed Stoneware as well as Porcelain.

You can view examples of his work in the "Gallery" Section under the heading "Ceramics" on Portal.Wisconsin, (www.portalwisconsin.org) an online gallery to promote the arts in Wisconsin. Also, you can watch a YouTube video of Willem Gebben at work (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgb-OsYvVS0).

ARTIST STATEMENT:
“It is important for me to work within the traditional role of potter;
making pots that are meant to be used.
It is this aspect of craft that separates it from the other arts,
such as painting or sculpture. It is through the elements of touch and use
that the communication between the object and the user occurs.

I am also very interested in form,
which in large part is what the art of pottery is about;
the tactile qualities, the weight, how the pots feel in the hand.

In this age of increasing dependence on machine-made things
and the worship of technology,
I think it is essential that handmade objects are still made
and used as a way for us to communicate with each other.”