Published on the cover of the February 5, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, is a feature story I wrote, titled, Special Folk Art Ceramic Vase Made At The Maurice Knight Chemical Stoneware Plant in Akron, Ohio: Carl Funk's Sewer Tile Vase Is Dated 1935.
Carl Elton Funk (1913-2005) was born in Akron, Ohio on February 26, 1913. His first wife Marie Funk was born in 1918; they divorced on March 27, 1947, although, he married a second time in 1951 to Vera Genevee Parsons (1919-2011), who he married on January 20, 1951. He worked at the Maurice Knight Chemical Stoneware Plant in Ohio, very likely starting there in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Later in life, he was a gospel singer on television and radio in Louisville, Ohio. He is buried next to his second wife in Forte Meade, Florida.
Carl Funk's occupation is listed in the 1940 United States Federal Census as an "Ovens Tender, Clay Factory." It would seem that he began in the pottery industry at a young age seeing that his highest level of education achieved was eighth grade. His father Howard Thurlow Funk (born July 25, 1881) was also a German potter working in Akron, listed as a "maker of chemical stoneware."
The Maurice Knight Chemical Stoneware Plant was established in 1910, and the company was the first United States maker of acid-resistant ceramics that could be used in chemical processing. Among the products manufactured were huge ceramic urns used to move corrosive liquids before tanker trucks and rail cars were developed to transport acids. In the 1920s, a typical large container used to treat acid and convert sulfur dioxide would have been five feet in diameter and 20 to 25 feet tall.
I recently learned about this outstanding sewer tile object from the personal collection of antiques dealer Matt Greig, which Carl Funk made in 1945. The figure incorporates the use of some slip decoration. The front appears to be impressed with the words "FUNNY MAN," although part of the second word is missing. The back is impressed with the initials "C.E.F.," while the base is marked "MADE BY / CARL FUNK / 1-28-45."
A Sewer Tile Figure Made by Carl Funk in Ohio in 1945
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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