Cup

American, 20th century, Early Pewabic
Cup, small
Clay: dense.
Glaze: mingled light-blue and green, with an overflow of iridescent copper-red.

5.5 cm x 5.5 cm
(2-3/16″ x 2-3/16″)

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Historical period(s)
ca. 1917
Medium
Clay with iridescent glaze
Style
Pewabic ware
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 5.6 x 5.5 cm (2 3/16 x 2 3/16 in)
Geography
United States, Michigan, Detroit
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.441
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Cup

Keywords
iridescence, Pewabic ware, United States
Provenance

To 1917
Mary Chase Perry Stratton (1867-1961), Detroit, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by Mary Chase Perry Stratton in 1917 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See American Pottery List, R. 6540, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

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

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Mary Chase Perry Stratton (C.L. Freer source) 1867-1961

Description

American, 20th century, Early Pewabic
Cup, small
Clay: dense.
Glaze: mingled light-blue and green, with an overflow of iridescent copper-red.

5.5 cm x 5.5 cm
(2-3/16" x 2-3/16")

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
Google Cultural Institute
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