I show the pots to the students, walking around the room, and moving the pots so that they can see every angle. Then I put them away out of sight and have the students draw them from memory. Usually I tell them to pick one to draw.
The students always draw them the same way. First, they draw them face-on with a limited perspective. Second, they draw them with the handles on the left and right, instead of angled. Third, they always stylize the shapes to a more conventional vessel instead of the rustic one they saw.
I've only had one student ever draw one differently. He was the student who came to class with a stack of drawing books under his arm. He reminded me of myself when I was a first-year art student and I had a similar exercise.
We look at the results and I bring the pots out again. I tell them that it is perfectly logical and appropriate to draw the pots symmetrically. This is the easiest and most effective way to communicate the nature of the pot. But I have them compare their memories to the actual pots, and they see how often they substitute a stereotype of a pot for the distinctive pot I showed them. I then place the pots in the center of the table and encourage the students to draw them again from sight.
I encourage them to keep both drawings.
Eventually, I broke one of the pots when they were rattling around in my van. But I still have two of them and I might even make some more. Here's one student's results.
