Object Details
Description
Jar, small, ovoid
Clay: dense, soft
Glaze: lapis-lazuli blue with a thin green overflow; iridescent
Label
The Pewabic Pottery was a ceramics workshop in Detroit established at the turn of the century. The primary aesthetic interest of its founder, Mary Chase Perry Stratton, was the art of glazing, or "painting with fire." Stratton's friend and patron Charles Lang Freer fostered her efforts by providing fragments of ancient Asian pots to emulate. Her mature works are clearly inspired by the surfaces and shapes of ceramics in Freer's collection, particularly the Islamic pottery known as Raqqa ware, with its distinctive iridescence. The surfaces also resonate with paintings in Freer's collection by James McNeill Whistler, Thomas Dewing, and Dwight Tryon.
Provenance
To 1914
Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI, to 1914 [1]
From 1914 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Pewabic Pottery in 1914 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] Object file. Present location of voucher unknown.
[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.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
Freer’s Global Network: Artists, Collectors, and Dealers (October 15, 2022 - ongoing)
James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Figure (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)
Pewabic Pottery (November 20, 1979 to March 5, 1981)
American Paintings (November 11, 1976 to October 12, 1978)
Previous custodian or owner
Pewabic Pottery (established 1903) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Date
ca. 1914
Accession Number
F1914.119
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Vessel
Medium
Glazed clay
Dimensions
H x Diam (overall): 13.8 x 10 cm (5 7/16 x 3 15/16 in)
Style
Pewabic ware
Origin
Detroit, Michigan, United States
On View
West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 09: Freer’s Global Network
Related Online Resources
Google Arts & Culture
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
iridescence
ceramic
Pewabic ware
United States
glazed
American Art
Charles Lang Freer collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1914.119