Mid Century Elizabeth Ann MacPhail Miniature Sail Form

Guernsey, c.1960s–70s
 
A small sculptural form suggestive of a sailboat, built from layered, curved slabs rising from a low, elongated base.
 
The body is finished in a mottled blue-green glaze with darker pooling along the edges and seams. The sails are hand-formed rather than symmetrical, giving the piece movement — they lean slightly, catching an imagined wind. The base sits low and wide, grounding the vertical lift of the sails above.
 
It’s not literal. More an impression than a model. The space between the sails does as much work as the clay itself, and the edges retain that slightly raw, studio feel that keeps it from becoming decorative in a predictable way.
 
Small-scale, but confidently sculptural.
 
About Elizabeth Ann MacPhail
 
Elizabeth Ann MacPhail worked at Briglin Pottery, London, in the late 1950s before establishing her own studio at Grandes Rocques, Guernsey, from 1961. Her work sits within the British studio pottery tradition of the mid-20th century, combining functional form with confident hand-decoration. Pieces attributed to her Guernsey period were produced on a smaller scale and remain comparatively scarce on the market today.
 
Condition: Excellent
Size: W 9.5cm x D 6cm x H 7.5cm