Vase

Vase, tall
Clay: dense, fairly soft
Glaze: deep blue, mottled with gray and turquoise green; golden iridescence.

Maker(s)
Artist: Mary Chase Perry Stratton (1867-1961)
Historical period(s)
ca. 1917
Medium
Earthenware with luster glaze
Style
Pewabic ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 26.9 x 16.4 cm (10 9/16 x 6 7/16 in)
Geography
United States, Michigan, Detroit
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.437
On View Location
Freer Gallery 09: Freer’s Global Network
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Vase

Keywords
earthenware, iridescence, Pewabic ware, United States
Provenance

1917-1920
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI [1]

1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] See receipt from Pewabic Pottery to Charles Lang Freer, August 2, 1917, Box 123, Folder 8, Charles Lang Freer Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Author M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, copy in object file.

[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Free's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Research Completed on July 29, 2022

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Pewabic Pottery (C.L. Freer source)

Description

Vase, tall
Clay: dense, fairly soft
Glaze: deep blue, mottled with gray and turquoise green; golden iridescence.

Inscription(s)

- Round sticker affixed to base of vessel, "Pewabic Detroit" printed in black ink, and "6537" written in pencil
- Small fragment of what was rectangular, white sticker with perforated boarder

Marking(s)

- Impressed in clay, "Pewabic, Detroit"

Label

Made from 1903 until 1965, the Pewabic pottery of Detroit was most noted for iridescent glazes.  These colorful hues are created when metallic salts, such as copper oxides, are spread on the pottery before its last firing.  Many well-known art-potters and glassmakers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries created iridescent glazes inspired by ceramic lusterwares from the Near East.  The potters, then, shared some of the same sources of inspiration as artists like James McNeill Whistler, and Dwight Tryon.

Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Whistler's Neighborhood
Google Cultural Institute
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