Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 68, The Whiteley Galleries

Bowl

Bowl
1995 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ian Ferguson’s work celebrates mokume-gane (wood grain metal), a four-hundred-year-old Japanese technique originally used to decorate sword fittings. The distinctive swirling patterns were created by fusing twenty-one layers of mixed metals to form a thick wad or billet. Gouges were made into the billet’s surface to reveal the colourful metal layers beneath. The billet was then rolled out into a sheet, and Ferguson used hammers and stakes to raise the sheet into the bowls.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBowl (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Copper and iron (Mokume Gane), silver details
Brief description
Bowl, silver and Mokumé Gane, London, 1995, designed and made by Ian Ferguson.
Physical description
Shallow bowl, part hemispherical of Mokumé Gane, the narrow rim of silver.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 14.4cm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
No hallmarks
Gallery label
Three Bowls Copper and stainless steel, copper and iron, copper and shibushi with silver Ian Ferguson London, 1995 Museum no. LOAN:MAKOWER.12-14 Lent by The Penelope and Oliver Makower 1974 Charitable Trust Ian Ferguson’s work celebrates mokume-gane (wood grain metal), a four-hundred-year-old Japanese technique originally used to decorate sword fittings. The distinctive swirling patterns were created by fusing twenty-one layers of mixed metals to form a thick wad or billet. Gouges were made into the billet’s surface to reveal the colourful metal layers beneath. The billet was then rolled out into a sheet, and Ferguson used hammers and stakes to raise the sheet into the bowls. (14.12.2023)
Credit line
Lent by The Penelope and Oliver Makower 1974 Charitable Trust
Object history
Shimmer Exhibition RF.2005/756
Summary
Ian Ferguson’s work celebrates mokume-gane (wood grain metal), a four-hundred-year-old Japanese technique originally used to decorate sword fittings. The distinctive swirling patterns were created by fusing twenty-one layers of mixed metals to form a thick wad or billet. Gouges were made into the billet’s surface to reveal the colourful metal layers beneath. The billet was then rolled out into a sheet, and Ferguson used hammers and stakes to raise the sheet into the bowls.
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:MAKOWER.13

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Record createdJanuary 17, 2006
Record URL
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