Randi Lile Signed Studio Ceramic Tray — Sgraffito Tree of Life, Dual Glaze

A hand-built stoneware serving tray signed by studio potter Randi Lile, whose work circulates among collectors of American studio ceramics and artisan craft. The form is a gently undulating slab-built rectangle — the scalloped rim rises and dips at each corner rather than sitting flat, giving the piece an organic, hand-touched quality that no mold could replicate. The well is finished in a rich chartreuse-olive glaze that shifts in depth and saturation across the surface; the broad flanged rim takes a contrasting slate-blue speckled glaze, the two zones meeting at a clean raised ridge. The maker's mark on the underside is incised with confidence: RANDI ★ LILE, the five-pointed star serving as a personal separator between first and last name — a detail that recurs across her signed work and functions as a personal hallmark.

The defining feature is the sgraffito-carved tree that fills the well — a technique in which the design is drawn through the unfired glaze layer to reveal the clay body beneath, then refired so the carved lines read as crisp, luminous channels against the glassy surface. The tree here is drawn with genuine draftsmanship: a gnarled trunk rising from radiating surface roots, a small spiral knot near the base, branching limbs spreading into a wide canopy of lobed, stylized foliage. The linework is fluid and confident, closer to botanical illustration than decorative motif — the kind of image a potter draws hundreds of times until it moves from hand to clay without hesitation. At functional scale the tray serves equally well as a bread board, a cheese presentation, a catchall on a console, or a wall piece; the sgraffito imagery reads clearly at a distance.

Sgraffito as a ceramic technique has a long lineage — from Italian Renaissance maiolica through the Arts and Crafts movement to the American studio pottery revival of the 1970s and beyond. Lile works squarely in that tradition: hand-built, hand-decorated, glazed for tactile warmth rather than industrial precision. The dual-glaze palette — chartreuse against slate — has strong contemporary market appeal in the artisan craft and farmhouse-modern collecting space.

CONDITION

Excellent — no chips, cracks, crazing, or restoration detected. Glaze surfaces are clean and fully intact on both the well and rim. A thoroughly sound, display-ready piece.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 1" H × 13½" W × 10½" D
• Weight: 3 lbs 11 oz
• Material: Stoneware ceramic
• Glaze: Chartreuse-olive well; slate-blue speckled rim
• Technique: Sgraffito carving through glaze
• Signature: RANDI ★ LILE, incised on underside