Feston & Cavetto by Goodwin Ceramics x Vertone

Yesterday we launched something I’ve been working on for a while. Vertone’s first ceramic collections, Feston and Cavetto, are now available, created in collaboration with Matamata-based studio potter Larissa Goodwin-Wylie of Goodwin Ceramics.

I first came across Larissa’s beautiful ceramics on Instagram and was drawn to her focus on form and texture, as well as the versatility of her work. As we looked to grow Vertone beyond furniture into homewares, collaborating with a local maker felt like the right way to do it. Larissa’s path into clay began with a Bachelor of Visual Arts at AUT and postgraduate study at Elam School of Fine Arts, and she has also interned with renowned Auckland potter Kirsten Dryburgh. A two-year stint in rural Japan fuelled a move to her husband James’s hometown of Matamata, where they now live with their two young children. Through Goodwin Ceramics she creates functional and ornamental stoneware using wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques, fired in an electric kiln and finished with glazes she develops in her own studio.

It was important that the pieces reflected both Larissa’s aesthetic and Vertone’s. The resulting collections fuse the two through an architectural language, with classical references reinterpreted by hand in stoneware.

The Feston Collection

The Feston Collection is named for the feston, a motif rooted in classical architecture and decorative arts. Each piece has a signature notched rim, with soft, fluid indentations that curve gently downward, sculptural in their simplicity. The collection includes a vase, dish and jar.

The Cavetto Collection

The Cavetto Collection takes its name from the cavetto, a concave moulding originating in classical architecture and later adopted across decorative arts. That reference is echoed in the subtly carved body of each piece, while an angular handle introduces contrast, a deliberate tension between curve and line that gives the Cavetto its uniquely considered form. The collection includes a jug and cup.

Colour and Craft

Each piece is crafted in a dark red-brown clay and finished with a custom glaze developed in Larissa’s studio. The palette nods to mid-century design, where sage and buttery tones were paired with the rich warmth of terracotta and clay. The colour shifts with the light, and the glaze breaks naturally at the edges to reveal the deep red-brown of the clay beneath. Subtle variations are embraced rather than concealed, so no two pieces are exactly alike.

The pieces are designed for everyday use, or to stand alone as beautiful objects. They also work well together, and pieces from both collections can be styled together or separately across the home.

I’m so proud of how these have turned out, and I hope they end up in homes where they’re used, loved and cherished. I’ll be sharing more about Larissa’s process on the Vertone Journal soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Feston and Cavetto are available now at vertone.space.

Creative Direction: Michelle Halford
Photography: Kirsty Dawn