Strauss & co - Contemporary South African Ceramics - 10 November 2020

532 Mary Liebermann SOUTH AFRICAN 1929–2007 Abstract Woman stoneware height: 35,5 cm R  –   533 Hannatjie van der Wat SOUTH AFRICAN 1923–2020 Abstract Forms #2; #12; #23, three each signed and dated ‘77 or ‘78 on the underside glazed ceramic two, height: 9,5 cm; one, height: 14 cm R  –   Hannatjie van der Wat began to experiment with ceramics in 1972 ‘through a friendship with Helen Martin (Dunstan) who invited her to her studio school to ‘play with clay’. Van der Wat took up the invitation with scepticism, not expecting to return more than once or twice at most, but from the moment that she began handling the clay, a creative empathy began to take hold of her. By her second visit, a very clear direction had emerged. It was a contradiction of all the rules of pottery – solid heavy slabs of clay twisted and pressured into form.’ 1 1. Garth Clark and Lynne Wagner (1974) Potters of Southern Africa , Cape Town: Struik, page 178. 31 T O P L A C E A B I D C L I C K O N T H E R E D L O T N U M B E R