Vase Vague

You have to admire the determination it takes to capture a wave in motion.  Three dimensional ceramics might not be the most likely medium, but the influence of Hokusai's Great Wave Off Kanagawa (c. 1829-1832) washed over western artists in the late 19th century like a revelation.
The wave bowl, spectacular in itself,  marked a decisive change in Christopher Dresser's work.  After his visit to Japan in 1876-77,  the British  artist's ceramics became - to use a modern word - holistic.  Here the decoration is inseparable from the shape of the work.

Johann Loetz Witwe was the most influential Bohemian art glass works from 1880-1940.  Forms inspired by nature and shimmering glazes were the specialty, as in this vase that seems to capture the play of sunlight on waves.

 Taxile Doat's career (1851-1939) was as restless any wave.  Born in Britain, he became known in France for his work at Sevres and for his introduction of new techniques in glass-making, glass applied over glass(pate-sur-pate) and high temperature firing (grand feu, literally big fire).   For these achievements, the Art Academy and Porcelain Works of University City, St. Louis lured Doat to the United States in 1909. La Mer was probably made for the International Exposition of 1900, held in Paris.  It is surely a direct reference to Hokusai's print.

Jennifer McCurdy's Wave turns in on itself like a whirlwind.  It was included in the exhibition Rococo: The Continuing Curve:  at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in 2008.
Vague is the French word for wave.
Images:
1. Christopher Dresser - bowl in the form of a wave, 1880, Metropolitan Museum of art, NYC.
2. Chinese wave bowl, Yongzheng, c. 1723-1735, Musee Guimet, Paris.
3. Johann Lotz - vase, 1895, Museum of Modern art, NYC.
4. Gerard Dufraisseix -Wave Vase, before 1900, Musee Andre Dubouche, Limoges.
5. Taxile-Maximin Doat - La Mer, papier mache, 1900, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
6. Jennifer McCurdy - Wave, 2007, Cooper-Hewitt Design Musuem, NYC.