The Prytaneia - Miniature Ceramic Temples
The ancient Greeks kept a hearth-fire (koine-hestia) going at the centre of every town and village. When they started their great migrations in the 8th century BC to set up cities all over the Mediterranean, they took the fire from their koine-hestia with them to their new home. The temple in which it was housed was known as the Prytaneion and was sacred to the patron god or goddess.
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My Prytaneia are inspired by these early little buildings, but are not necessarily Greek. Some are Islamic, (Mughal, Central Asian, Moroccan or Syrian) and some are mediaeval European. All are designed to house a tea light which can be lit and safely left to burn out. Most have a cup for burning incense.
“Ceramic is one of the oldest art forms we have and one of the most future-proof. It bridges sculpture, function, and ritual in a way few materials can.”
The Prytaneia Process
Kate doesn’t work from drawings. Each piece is built by instinct, starting from the base and working upward.
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Guided by proportion, balance, and the functional needs of candle or incense, every building is hand-built using slab work, coiling, and custom-made moulds.
Each structure can take up to six weeks to complete.
Plaster moulds are cast in Duplo-brick beds and refined repeatedly. Most days are spent in slow, meditative labour. The kind that leaves little room for anything else.
Firings last 28 hours and are filled with suspense.
Kate rarely uses glazes - “buildings aren’t glazed” - and believes the clay should speak for itself. Each firing is a delicate balance of chemistry, heat, and trust in the process.
