The profile of a form is its outside shape. Below is a silhouette made by cutting a white shape following the profile of a girl with her 1920’s flapper hat.

Sometimes we can recognize a three-dimensional object by just seeing its two-dimensional shadow.

Can you recognize the profile of a pitcher?

Everyday vessels have different profiles. Which of these is a peanut butter jar? a catsup bottle? a soda can? a salad dressing bottle?

Did you guess correctly?

Proportions affect a vessel’s profile. See how different proportions and profiles can be different even when the amount of clay stays the same.
Below are three grapefruit-sized balls of wet clay...

... from which were made these three pots with very different proportions.

The profile of a vessel changes as the diameter of its cross-section changes. That is, the profile changes as the vessel gets wider or more slender either gradually or quickly.

These three pots were cut vertically to show their profiles.

The profile of this traditional vessel moves in and out very gradually.

The profiles of these vessels by Patricia Sannit and Geoffrey Swindell are much more abrupt.


Patricia Sannit, United States, Incised Vessel, 1998, white stoneware, handbuilt, 28.5”

Geoffrey Swindell, British, porcelain, varying sizes, gift of Anne and Sam Davis, Arizona State University Art Museum

Sometimes ceramists make vessels with different profiles in order to meet different functional criteria. For example, a narrow-necked bottle in easily grasped in one hand and a wide-mouthed bowl can hold lots of stacked-up fruit. Ceramists also can decide on profiles to meet expressive criteria. Vessels can express feelings or ideas, such as power, grace, fun, status, boldness, delicacy, nobility, gentleness, or mystery.

A vessel with a wide foot suggests strength and durability, like a wrestler crouching low on wide-spread legs.

Anonymous, American, 19th century, storage jug, stoneware, 7 3/4” by 5 1/2”, gift of Mr. And Mrs. Joseph Thomas, Arizona State University Art Museum

However a bowl with a small foot can express grace and elegance, like a ballerina en pointe.

Elsa Rady, American, “Miami”, porcelain, 6 3/4” by 12 1/4”, gift of Anne and Sam Davis, Arizona State University Art Museum

Consider these three pieces by the Hawaiian born, Japanese American artist Toshiko Takaezu.

Toshiko Takaezu, United States, Untitled (Dark Blue, Brown), 2000, porcelain, 7.5 x 5 x 5”

Toshiko Takaezu is influenced by ancient Buddhist ideas from Asia, which she blends with ideas from European America. The way she pours and brushes on her colored glazes reflects her interest in modern painting. Judged for their practicality as containers, Toshiko Takaezu’s vessels are not very functional. However her vessels are expressive. Her globe-like forms suggest the simplicity of nature.

Look again at these vessels.

Do your judgments of them change as you apply different criteria?
Which do you think is most functional? How do you think it might be used?
Which do you think is most expressive? What feeling or idea does it express to you?

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