Reliquary for a Common Man (2014.3)
Catalogue Record
Collection
Maker
Julian Stair
Title
Reliquary for a Common Man
Made in
London
Date
2012
Description
Reliquary for a Common Man is a memorial to the maker’s uncle-in-law, Leslie James Cox (1926-2008). It is also the 'keystone' of Stair’s 2013 solo show Quietus: The Vessel, Death and the Human Body, a collection of ceramic vessels that address the containment of the human body in death, through vessels.
An intensely personal work, Reliquary embodies the themes of the exhibition through the incorporation of Leslie Cox’s cremated remains into the actual artwork. Stair has substituted the ox-bone element of bone china with Leslie Cox’s remains to create a cinerary jar to hold the remaining ash, and in doing so reinforces the corporeal identity of the vessel and creates a piece which is both memorial to, and made from, Leslie Cox.
The work comprises cinerary jar, lead plinth, audio recording of an interview with Leslie Cox, film compiled from family Super8 cine footage and a slide show of still photographs of Cox from childhood to older age.
An intensely personal work, Reliquary embodies the themes of the exhibition through the incorporation of Leslie Cox’s cremated remains into the actual artwork. Stair has substituted the ox-bone element of bone china with Leslie Cox’s remains to create a cinerary jar to hold the remaining ash, and in doing so reinforces the corporeal identity of the vessel and creates a piece which is both memorial to, and made from, Leslie Cox.
The work comprises cinerary jar, lead plinth, audio recording of an interview with Leslie Cox, film compiled from family Super8 cine footage and a slide show of still photographs of Cox from childhood to older age.
Dimensions
height: 16.6cm
diameter: 17cm
height: 106.7cm
width: 60cm
length: 60cm
Object number
2014.3
Category
References
Reliquary for a Common Man by Christina McGregor, Keeper of Collections
From One Life to A Thousand: Julian Stair and Clare Twomey talk to Mella Shaw
Object of Desire: Reliquary for a Common Man by Bryony Windsor
Martina Margetts, Objects of Our Time, Crafts Council, 1996
Crafts Council Objects of Desire: Mad Kid's Bedroom Wall Pot by Grayson Perry
Featured in Ceramics: Art and Perception TECHNICAL. Issue 102. See related document.
Legacy: 22 Sep 2018 - 6 Jan 2019 at Firstsite in Colchester, United Kingdom
From One Life to A Thousand: Julian Stair and Clare Twomey talk to Mella Shaw
Object of Desire: Reliquary for a Common Man by Bryony Windsor
Martina Margetts, Objects of Our Time, Crafts Council, 1996
Crafts Council Objects of Desire: Mad Kid's Bedroom Wall Pot by Grayson Perry
Featured in Ceramics: Art and Perception TECHNICAL. Issue 102. See related document.
Legacy: 22 Sep 2018 - 6 Jan 2019 at Firstsite in Colchester, United Kingdom
Credit
Purchase of Reliquary for a Common Man (2012) supported by a donation from Gerard and Sarah Griffin and with the assistance of the Art Fund.
Related documents
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The UK Crafts Council Collection, article by Paul Bailey, courtesy of Ceramics: Art and Perception TECHNICAL
The UK Crafts Council Collection, article by Paul Bailey, courtesy of Ceramics: Art and Perception TECHNICAL
Maker's statement
[My ambition is] to position art as a material mediation of how we come to terms with death, and ultimately, that is a celebration of life. So with Leslie I wanted it to be a celebration of a life, not a kind of feeling of loss and sadness.
The piece is really a person; some of the molecules that were part of his body.
The piece is really a person; some of the molecules that were part of his body.