polychrome (overall surface decoration color name)
ceramic, earthenware, coarse (overall material)
Measurements:
overall: 21.2 cm x 9 cm; 8 3/8 in x 3 9/16 in
Object Name:
Vase
Place made:
United States: Mississippi, Biloxi
Date made:
1905
Description (Brief):
Red earthenware wheel-thrown art pottery vase. Form has wide flaring pedestal base supporting long tapering body, widest at lower belly; neck accented with band of 8 diagonal entwined s-curves formed in throwing process supports thin flaring rim; elaborate twisted pulled handles. Covered overall with shiny, transparent lead crackle glaze; exterior stained dark blue with copper red and dark green vertical drips.
Description:
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900). Morris and Ruskin believed that the growth of cities isolated urban workers and that mass production negatively affected artisan crafts. They proposed to solve these issues by creating a idealized, medieval-inspired village model where everybody participated in a community lifestyle. In the United States, artisans adapted these ideas into the studio art pottery movement. Unlike their British counterparts, who often focused predominantly on social issues and made objects that incorporated Gothic and Renaissance motifs, American craftsmen developed a cohesive and novel aesthetic.
This vase was thrown by George Ohr, the self-proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi.” Using local Mississippi clay, Ohr produced incredibly thin vessels with ribbon-like handles, intricate twists, and unusual color combinations. Although most American Arts and Crafts potteries made hand-thrown vessels, companies like Rookwood and Grueby produced catalogs that offered a set combination of shapes and patterns. In contrast, Ohr was particularly concerned with the idea that every one of his vessels needed to be unique, and proclaimed that, “I am the apostle of individuality, the brother of the human race, but I must be myself and I want every vase of mine to be itself.”
Art connoisseurs often question whether Ohr’s work fits within the Arts and Crafts aesthetic; its curves allude more to the whiplash bends of Art Nouveau, and its seemingly uncontrolled nature references the later Abstract Expressionist movement. Nonetheless, the paper-thin walls and refined glazes of his vessels showcase Ohr’s technical prowess. Ohr was so convinced of his own genius that when asked to price his wares at the 1884 World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, he unabashedly valued them as “worth their weight in gold.”
This vivacious vase was thrown by George Ohr, the self-proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi.” Using local Mississippi clay, Ohr produced incredibly thin vessels with ribbon-like handles, intricate twists, and unusual color combinations. Although most Arts and Crafts potteries made hand-thrown vessels, companies like Rookwood and Grueby produced catalogs that offered a set combination of shapes and patterns. In contrast, Ohr was particularly concerned with the idea that every one of his vessels needed to be unique, and proclaimed that, “I am the apostle of individuality, the brother of the human race, but I must be myself and I want every vase of mine to be itself.”
Art connoisseurs often question whether Ohr’s work fits within the Arts and Crafts aesthetic; its curves allude more to the whiplash bends of Art Nouveau, and its seemingly uncontrolled nature references the later Abstract Expressionist movement. Nonetheless, the paper-thin walls and refined glazes of his vessels showcase Ohr’s technical prowess. Ohr was so convinced of his own genius that the potter, when asked to price his wares at the 1884 World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, unabashedly valued them as “worth their weight in gold.”
