Colorful Ceramics Topped with Endangered Animals to Identify and Help Save Them

Ceramic artist Charlotte Mary Pack grew up on a farm and spent her youth traveling through southern and eastern Africa. These experiences instilled a permanent affection for the environment and is now the focus of Pack’s contemporary works in clay. Her colorful pieces continue the long-standing tradition of wheel-thrown vessels, but she goes a step beyond and adorns each of them with an intricately crafted, hand-built creature. The variety of animals—living on both land and sea—all have one thing in common: their populations are in decline.

Pack calls her collection No Time for Tea, and it draws from the IUCN Red List of endangered species. On the underside of each piece she includes the name of the animal and its “status” in the wild—either critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. “It’s important to be able to identify each animal,” Pack writes, “and [it] provides an opportunity for you [the viewer] to explore more about the specific species and why it is under threat.”

The vessels are purposely produced in a small scale to make them affordable and therefore easily collectible. Each item purchased is an indirect step towards conservation, as 15% of all sales are contributed to a wildlife charity of Pack’s choice.