Ring Vases

For over five years I've been fascinated by ring bottles and the process of throwing a ring on the wheel.
Historically the supposed ring flask, or harvester's bottle is a culturally and socially interesting tidbit, but I say "supposed" because I don't know whether I agree with how these were used historically or not. I've yet to see one archaeologically, but admittedly, I have not really been looking! One piece which has been stuck in the recesses of my mind since I was in Germany several years ago was this finger vase:

German gray salt-glazed stoneware. Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany

Close-up of vase. Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany/

I can only aspire to something as beautiful as that! Who knows, maybe I'll try that too. I have also been thinking about getting some cake decorating tools in order to add decoration. I had seen a potter's work that had used cake decorating implements (it probably helped that she had worked in a cake shop) and it was really fascinting.
 So I finally got up the guts (or gumption) to give ring bottles a try! Watching Michelle Erikson recently working on a molded bottle and looking at Sid Luck's ring bottles lately have been an additional motive. I've combined the ring bottle with a five-finger vase form and made ring vases. I don't know whether they will be functional or popular yet, we'll have to wait until they're fired. Next time I throw them I will try to take some photos or video of the process. But I have put some photos below of the results:

I'm also plotting variations on the finger vase and other small vase forms, so I will keep you posted!