EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Carved American Pottery from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Monday, February 24, 2020

Carved American Pottery from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Last week, I posted a story about this nineteenth century Etruscan formed stoneware vase that is attributed to the Huntington Pottery on Long Island, and likely made in the 1880s or 1890s. The vase was originally entirely covered on the exterior and interior with a brown Albany slip, although the exterior was then carved by the decorator, creating all sorts of wonderful intricate designs.

According to the information that it retains, "The vase was deaccessioned from the Litchfield, Connecticut Historical Society. It was made at the Huntington Pottery in Huntington, New York, and it is likely that the donor purchased the piece directly from the Huntington Pottery and then gifted it to the museum."

I was pleased to see other excellent examples of carved American pottery, while visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City a few days ago. These objects were included in the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, dating from the circa 1892-1935 period: "Hand carving and incising leather-hard clay are two of the most widely used techniques for decorative surface embellishment. The formal qualities of porcelain - specifically, its strength and transparency - made it the ideal medium for delicately carved vignettes of Kate B. Sears in the late nineteenth century. Similarly, around 1900, Mary Louise McLaughlin introduced her Losanti ware, its carved floral and scroll-like compositions enhanced by subtly shaded glazes. Frederick Hurten Rhead, who came from the English tradition, excelled at crisply incised, stylized designs on earthenware vessels. His popular Rozane ware for the Roseville Pottery, most notably the "Della Robbia" line, epitomized the skill and detail with which he executed his conventionalized figural and landscape designs."

Interestingly, since it is known today that some of the earliest carved decorative pottery made in America was created by women, it would be very interesting to learn if this stoneware vase was also decorated by a female. It should also be taken into consideration that some of the decorative designs made in the later years at the Huntington Pottery are thought to have been created by female decorators. And while the manufacture of this vase is not as refined as a lot of American art pottery based on its weight, the skill of the design is quite accomplished.

Carved Etruscan Formed Stoneware Vase from Long Island