BarPartTime's Jeremy Castillo on Robert Maxwell's Ceramic Critters, Dad Wine, and an Italian Library Music Masterpiece
December 15, 2020
I’ve never been to Bar Part Time & I haven’t met Jeremy, however, I happen to own their branded hoodie, Nalgene, t-shirt, and wine glasses. Why you may ask? Well, that’s because BPT has some of the coolest merch around & they’re super nice people, that’s why!! The illustrations done by spacehose are so much fun and the blanks they use are high quality. And as if having an impeccable wine selection and fire merch wasn’t enough, they also run a great radio show called HI-NRG— Jeremy has killer taste & lucky for us, he’s here to talk about what he’s been into.
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I first stumbled upon the ceramics of Robert Maxwell at Stuff in San Francisco (a multistory store always playing Hi-NRG music that carries vintage furniture and home decor). The booth I usually go to first that specializes in California mid-century items and the like, had these little stoneware animal sculptures with silly facial expressions. I bought it and immediately did a little detective work, trying to decipher the signature on the bottom. I finally found something similar to it, and dug a little more and found this series of stoneware he did in the 1960s called critters. The collection is made up of made-up creatures, but most of them resemble anteaters and have all have these comical and priceless expressions. I love looking at them, I have about 8 of them now and they make me smile every time I see them. If this stuff speaks to you, also check out Stoneware Designs West, it’s another stoneware company founded by his former employees who share a lot of the same ethos.