Caracol Ceramic Cat Cave

Caracol wraps a cat in a spiral, a snail-shell form that curls around the largest hollow of any cave Sara Monge makes, so even a big cat settles in with room to spare. The two leather horns are thick and flexible and bolt onto the shell, the small playful note on an otherwise serious sculpture.

It is hand-modeled stoneware fired to 1250 degrees, glazed satin white, hard enough to live with a cat for years.

Specifications

• Material: Hand-modeled high-fired stoneware, satin white glaze, with thick flexible leather horns
• Dimensions: 18.1 x 15.7 x 17.7 in (46 x 40 x 45 cm), approx. 33 lb (15 kg)
• Made in: Spain, by hand

Made by hand, one piece at a time

Sara Monge is a ceramic artist working in Spain, and every piece here leaves her studio by her own hands. The clay is modeled, then fired at high temperature more than once, until stoneware reaches the hardness and stability it needs to live in a home for years. Because each piece is made individually, small variations from one to the next are part of the work, not a flaw in it.

Function that becomes form

These are objects to be used and to be looked at. A cave is a real shelter a cat disappears into and a sculpture that holds its own beside the furniture. A bowl lifts a meal off the floor and reads as a considered object on the counter. The standard is the same throughout, cat pieces made to the level of studio ceramics.