New Acquisition Spotlight: Nine New Vases Now on Display
The Two Red Roses Foundation has recently acquired a fascinating and rare selection of nine works of American Arts and Crafts pottery which are currently on display in MAACM’s fourth floor pottery gallery.
Frederick Hurten Rhead, American (born England), 1880-1942, designer and maker Arequipa Pottery, Fairfax, CA, manufacturer
Frederick Hurten Rhead, American (born England), 1880-1942, designer and maker Rhead Pottery, Santa Barbara, CA, manufacturer
Just added are two new beautiful and extremely rare vases by famed potter Fredrick H. Rhead. One made at Arequipa Pottery features a stylized design of peacock feathers, in dark brown, green, blue, and white. This vase is seven and a half inches tall and it is among the largest of his decorated pieces to have survived. Rhead was often sparse with his decoration both in technique (often using a squeeze bag, or slip trail, as a baker would decorate a cake), and surface, with designs usually restricted to the upper third of his finished work. Seldom are there examples where more than perhaps three colors were employed. This vase, with its entire surface decorated in five glaze colors, is one of the best examples extant. The second vase is a Della Robbia style design with stylized fruit, vegetables, foliage, and flowers. This technique is a time-consuming and eye-catching method involving multiple castings, carving, and the careful application of as many as five different colored glazes.
Wilhelmina Post, American, 1867-unknown, designer Grueby Faience Company, Boston, MA, manufacturer
Glazed earthenware
Grueby Faience Company, Boston, MA, manufacturer
Glazed earthenware
Displayed above are two beautiful tiny vases decorated with flowers and treated with the matte glazes Grueby is well-known for, one in traditional green and the other in a sky blue. Both with flowers which stretch from the base to the lip of the vase.
Grueby Faience Company, Boston, MA, manufacturer
glazed earthenware
This yellow lidded vase with moths of green and red is decorated using the cloisonné technique, where lines of slip act as walls to contain the flow of the different colored glazes. This is one of only four known examples of this technique made by Grueby, making it a wonderfully unique addition to the collection.
Rookwood Pottery Company, Cincinnati, OH, manufacturer
Glazed and carved earthenware, patinated bronze
This relatively small Rookwood vase, just over 5-inches tall, is decorated with lightly drawn flowers in a haze of green, blue, and yellow hues. Circled around the mouth is a bronze flower and dragonfly with outstretched wings, applied to the vase with a new electroplating technique, creating an asymmetrical composition and a pleasing juxtaposition of painted bronze on glazed earthenware.
Adelaide Alsop Robineau, American, 1865-1929, designer and maker
Crystalline-glazed porcelain
Hugh C. Robertson, English/American, 1845-1908
Dedham Pottery, Dedham, MA
Glazed earthenware
Mary Chase Perry, American, 1867-1961, maker and designer
Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI, manufacurer
Glazed earthenware
Other new acquisitions include a Robineau vase with a crystalline-glaze and a carved porcelain base, a Dedham Pottery vase designed by Hugh C. Robertson with an experimental glaze called sang-de-boeuf (oxblood glaze), and a Pewabic Pottery vase with four large cyclamen leaves. Every piece in this group is special and represents a wonderful addition to the pottery collection.