Small Container (with typography & lid)

sketchfab

This charming container with a snug lid showcases how Dr Iskandar would sometimes use typography in his vessels more playfully. While Dr Iskandar’s formal pieces often bear handsome calligraphic strokes of Jawi or Khat scripts, other instances such as this one, resemble spontaneous ‘graffiti’ that is scribbled casually and in an improvisational way. English alphabet letters spelling out words such as ‘SLAB WORK’ can be made out but other texts are intentionally indecipherable. The lid is also covered with typographic script and can be seen when viewed from the top. Vessels such as Small Container are sometimes nicknamed ‘fruit forms’ for the way their bulbous bodies and vertical lid-handle evoke the size and shape of a fruit with an upright stem.