Hera | Ceramic Mask | Antique White
Hera is a ceramic wall mask sculpted by Jacob Laoru in our Aarhus atelier, inspired by ancient Greek sculpture. In Greek mythology, Hera is the Queen of the Gods, goddess of women, marriage, and motherhood, a figure of quiet authority, grace, and presence. The mask is shaped in her likeness, classical in its composition and softly alive in its surface.
Each Hera is cast from Jacob's original sculpture, a larger and more sculptural piece than our reliefs, designed to hold a wall on her own.
On our smaller pieces, Antique White is steady and consistent, barely varying from one piece to the next. On a surface as large as Hera, the glaze tells a different story. The same firing that produces pale plaster on a small relief can shift toward warm sand, aged ivory, or in rare cases carry a quiet blue tint across the face, recalling ancient porcelain or stone worn smooth by centuries. The variation is not a flaw. It is the glaze being true to itself at scale.
For that reason, each Hera Mask is sold as an individually photographed piece. The code, for example AW-A-5-26, identifies the specific piece you will receive. What you see is exactly what will arrive at your door.
Hera is designed to be hung on the wall as a sculptural focal point, but is equally beautiful displayed lying down on a shelf, mantel, or console table.
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How it is made
How it is made
Every piece begins with Jacob sculpting the original form by hand. From this, he makes a slip cast mould that will preserve the originality of the work. Liquid clay is poured in, left to set, and carefully opened. The first impression is lifted out gently, its edges softened and shaped with a brush and water, often where the final expression of the piece is decided.
Our mark is pressed into the back, a small signature of the hands that made it. Then comes the waiting. Three to four days of quiet drying before the first firing at 920°C.
Glaze is applied by hand, and the piece returns to the kiln at 1250°C, where the heat and the glaze decide the final character of the surface. No two pieces will ever share the same result.
From pouring the mould to the finished piece, every piece takes around ten days to make. Everything is made by hand in our studio in Aarhus, Denmark.
Everything is made by hand in our studio in Aarhus, Denmark.
Material and care
Material and care
Material:
Glazed white stoneware clay
Care Instructions:
Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. If the piece is exposed to cooking splatter or oil, use a damp cloth with a mild cleaning agent.
Caution:
Ceramics are stone with glass on the surface, which means they can break and become very sharp if they do. Make sure to mount the piece out of reach of small curious fingers, and handle with care if a piece should break.
Specifications
Specifications
Size: 30 x 30 x 10 cm
Weight 1500 gr
To hang the piece, insert a screw or nail into the desired wall and let the piece rest on it. All our wall-mounted works are made with a small curved groove on the back that sits over the screw head, keeping the piece securely in place so it cannot slide off.
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Past Hera Editions
Antique White on a surface as large as Hera reveals a quieter kind of variation. The same glaze that holds steady on a small relief responds to scale with subtle shifts in tone, from pale plaster toward warm ivory, or in rare cases a faint blue tint that recalls ancient stone or aged porcelain. Never dramatic, always considered.
