Zeljko Kujundzic

Carved bottle vase

Stoneware with celadon-green glaze and gold inlay

Incised on the foot

16 in. H × 6.5 in. diameter

Tall bottle with a pinched, notched rim and a long neck over a slightly flattened body. The surface is carved in deep, angular relief—crosses, forks, diamonds, and stepped lines—then glazed so the raised fields take a speckled green and the recessed panels fire a dry gold-ochre. Wheel-thrown texture still shows under the glaze. Mid-century studio piece in Kujundzic’s carved, totemic manner.

Incised signature on the unglazed foot. Repair to bottom not visible when displayed and does not affect the structural integrity.

Zeljko Desider Kujundzic (1920–2003)

Yugoslav-born Canadian artist and potter. Born in Subotica (then Yugoslavia, now Serbia) into a fifth-generation craftsman family of Turkish descent. Studied in Dalmatia, at the Institute of Fine Arts in Budapest, and in Venice. Survived wartime captivity under both Nazi and Soviet forces, then fled west. Lived in Edinburgh 1948–58, where he worked among the postwar Scottish art circle (including contact with Bernard Leach) before emigrating to British Columbia in 1958.

Founding principal of the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson (c. 1959–64); later established a studio-gallery in Kelowna and headed the art department at Penn State’s Fayette campus (1971–82). Invented an experimental solar kiln in the 1970s. Worked across painting, print, metal, stained glass, and especially ceramic sculpture—often carved, slab-built, and marked by Byzantine and Indigenous Northwest forms. Died in Osoyoos, B.C. Public commissions include the Mayor’s Chain of Office for Nelson and large ceramic murals in Canada and Pennsylvania.