SPRING 2014
GREETINGS FROM OUR PRESIDENT Entering our ninth decade, CSC looks forward to another season of interesting meetings. We owe many thanks to our long-serving Program director, Anne Lanning, for consistently varied and stimulating talks. Our presenters and members give us opportunities to appreciate the visual and tactile qualities of ceramics. Nonetheless, it is sadly true that pottery and porcelain are increasingly less central to most American lives. The antiques of our youth are ever more rare, and we may find less that we can truly treasure among the pots produced from the twentieth century on. A theme of loss thus runs through my present musings, one that has been sharpened by the early death this year of yet another central member of the CSC community, Grace Yeomans Thaler, our Publicity director, whose obituary appeared in the Boston Globe last November. Grace was a New Englander. She worked in the fields of auctioneering and appraisal, and was an active member and officer of very many organizations, including our own. She was happily married for the last 16 years of her life. Members are referred to online resources for a fuller account of Grace’s 58 years. We honor her memory. I hope that we may make this year one of gains: in knowledge, interest, beauty (and in membership!) I am very glad to say that our Vice-President, Carolyn Parsons Roy and our present Recording Secretary, Deborah Bassett, have agreed to divide the Publicity role between them. We need a volunteer to record minutes of the Board and participate in its meetings. We shall ensure that rack cards are available early this year, and will mention that visitors to a single meeting are welcome without introduction. I urge each of us to take a few and make a point of giving them out. I also thank Jeffrey Brown, a true mainstay of CSC, for producing another invaluable, color illustrated Shards. It will, as usual, be indexed and archived at chinastudentsclub.org Page 1
Apart from breakage, ceramics remain largely unchanged by time. I have recently been in Turkey, where I saw dazzling 16th century Iznik tiles, and Kütahya wares, in situ and in museums. If interested, please visit my photographic archive atwww.flickr.com/photos/nicj6 - look for Albums, where you will find Turkey 2014: Ceramics. Always feel free to contact me with comments and suggestions. Nic Johnson, President
KOREAN CERAMICS OPENS 2014 LECTURE SEASON Reported by Jeffrey Brown A fresh new year began at the College Club for CSC members as they welcomed back a favorite local speaker, Robert D. Mowry, the Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus at the Harvard Art Museums. Robert’s talk was entitled, First Under Heaven: Korean Ceramics of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). The talk focused on Korean celadons and the title,“First Under Heaven” was inspired by a quote from a 13th century Chinese connoisseur who referred to these wares as “first under heaven” because they were considered the best in the world. We think of the Chinese as pre-eminent in the production of fine porcelain and don’t even think of them as ever importing wares from other countries, but in this period, the 12th and 13th centuries, the Korean celadons were every bit as good - technologically and artistically - as the Chinese wares, and were collected by connoisseurs in China at the time. We can’t really say that about any other country and it says a great deal about Korea’s abilities to create world-class ceramics. But in many of the fine arts, such as architecture, painting, and ceramics, Korea had long been something of a cultural province of China. Many of the innovations began in China, but Korea was able to readily adopt them, adapt them and make them their own. The celadons were created in China, but Korea soon mastered the art form and went on to replicate the Chinese wares and then adapt them to their own aesthetic and functional needs. For example, the earlier 12th pieces have carved and molded forms after the Chinese, but by the 13th century the Koreans have made them their own by the use of slip-filled incised decoration.
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A brief overview of the development of Korean ceramics began with the Three Kingdoms period, when indeed Korea was divided into three separate kingdoms. In this period the Koreans, emulating the Chinese, learned to make stoneware, an important developmental period. By 1200 BC, perhaps earlier, the Chinese could attain kiln temperatures sufficient to produce stoneware, and by the 5th century BC there was a continuous production of stoneware in China. From the 8th through the 10th centuries, these stonewares were being intentionally glazed with an ash glaze, albeit uneven and mottled. This was the distant ancestor of the celadon glaze. The earliest celadon glazes were invented in the area south of Shanghai in the 10th and 11th centuries. This area had long maintained maritime trade relations with the west coast of Korea and it was through this connection that the early celadons found their way into the country. The west coast of Korea also contained the clay necessary for production and so it is not surprising that Korea’s attempts at celadon production occurred there. The celadon glaze is typically a light green, blue-green or greygreen glaze applied over a stoneware body, fired in a reducing atmosphere. By the 10th century in China the glaze had been controlled, the dripping, streaking and unevenness was worked out; the glaze was now smooth and stable. Forms copied gold and silver vessels of the period, some with elaborate incised and carved designs; it was these wares that were the inspiration for Korean celadons to follow. During both this early Three Kingdoms period and on into the Goryeo Dynasty it must be remembered that Korea was an extremely wealthy country. Most of what we know of that early period’s ceramics and other artistic expressions today come from tomb excavations. Some of the most prevalent objects to be found from this time are tall stoneware covered vessels that rest upon a perforated base. There is limited decoration and the forms are taken from metal vessel shapes. Some of these pots reach as much as three feet in height, demonstrating a true mastery of the potter’s art. By 668, the Three Kingdoms of the peninsula of Korea had been unified, Chinese influence remained strong and Buddhism was becoming the country’s religion. Throughout the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, stonewares continued to be produced and improved upon; the raised pedestal foot slowly disappears into a low, simple base and the perforations retreat into a minimalist decoration while more and more design inspiration continues to be drawn from Chinese gold and silver vessels. By the 10th century, potters begin to cover the entire piece with stamped decoration and they are beginning to experiment with applied glazes. In 918 the Goryeo Dynasty comes into power, Buddhism becomes the state religion, the capital city is moved to the south and there is a flourishing of the arts; besides ceramics, extraordinary paintings with the use of golf leaf are being created.
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By the late 11th century and beginning of the 12th the Koreans had mastered the art of producing beautiful, transparent celadon glazes, the pieces frequently with incised and carved decoration, taking their inspiration from nature in gourd and melon forms or open flower blossoms. There were also pieces created with molded designs and decoration, the best examples equal to or excelling the Chinese as to the quality of the molded design. In addition to these achievements, by the middle of the 12th century the Koreans begin mastering the technique of producing Chinese rue wares. Rue ware was considered, and still is by many today, the pinnacle of Chinese ceramic production with an impossible subtle light, grey/ blue glaze. It was extremely rare and prized in its day and was created exclusively for the Imperial household. It is speculated that the Koreans only got their hands on an example to copy as part of a gift from a Chinese diplomatic embassy. Back to the celadons; by the late 12th century, having mastered the production techniques, the Koreans begin to innovate and “make it their own� by inlaying the vessels with black and white slip and glazing them over in the transparent celadon glaze. Scholars speculate that the inspiration for this technique came from earlier examples of Chinese lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Earliest inlaid pieces strike a balance between decorated inlaid areas and undecorated areas, but as time goes on, the borders widen and are given more predominance and, by the 13th century, the entire piece is covered. Eventually a reverse inlaid technique is developed where the background is entirely filled with slip creating a very striking image. And, at other times they simply paint the slip directly onto the surface of the vessel. In the 13th century the Koreans also experiment with the use of copper in the glaze, fired at a high temperature, which creates an oxblood red; this is a century before the Chinese employ the technique. The Koreans also mastered a marbling technique, carefully hand-melding three different colored clays, pressed into a mold, to create an object that looks as though it were carved of marble. Well, as with most golden ages, it all must come crashing to an end. There were invasions in the 14th century, the Chosen Dynasty came into power, and although celadon continued to be produced, there is less iron in the glaze and wares became a more a drab, grey-tinged color that more resembled the stoneware underneath than the once blue-green glazes of the Goryeo period. Plus, always following the fashion in China where the new blue and white hard-paste porcelains were in favor at the Imperial court, the new Chosen emperors follow suit and Korean ceramics take a new direction with blue and white, never quite attaining the peak of perfection they did with the Goryeo celadons.
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Clouds and Cranes pattern vase, incense burner, and marbleized plate; all Korean Celedons, Goryeo Dynasty, mid-12th century
ANNUAL BITS ‘N’ PIECES The CSC convened at the College Club on 27th of February for its much-loved Bits ‘n’ Pieces program which invites members to bring in objects from their collections for discussion and identification. It is always great fun to see the scope of interests that our membership reflects and to network with other collectors and gather other opinions and observations. With this article, I usually let the images speak for themselves, but shall precede the photographs with a brief list of items discussed and any questions that presented themselves: 1. A “Littler’s Wedgwood Blue” salt glaze plate with an image, rendered in white, of Frederick the Great of Prussia, circa 1759-1764. Crossed “L”s on the reverse, originally thought to be a mark for Longton Hall, now most likely to be the West Pans Pottery, Scotland. This blue ground is usually only seen on teawares, and, is usually of a more even coverage. Any thoughts? Contact Rob Barth. 2. A Harvard Studio Pottery small vase of contemporary manufacture showing Asian influence. 3. Hampshire Pottery flowerpot and jardinière shards from the Wyman Tavern site in Keene, New Hampshire where a tavern has operated since the 1760s. The shards date to circa 1870-1900. Any information on the Hampshire Pottery from this period, please contact Martha Pinello. 4. Pair of salt-glaze plates, demonstrating two of the many different border patterns produced, and one with an “ash” body. Along with a pair of leaf-shaped relish dishes, one in earlier salt-glaze, the other in blue-edged pearlware, demonstrating the popularity of this form. Circa 1760-75. Page 5
5. A pair of small porcelain handleless cups of tapering form. Early 19th century. What are they? Small “whiskies”? Table drinking cups? Beakers? Anyone know? Contact Louise Richardson. 7. Chinese export guglet with clobbered Imari decoration. Described variously as an apothecary jar, a guglet and a bottle vase. Circa 1720. Most likely a guglet for a wash basin. 8. A pair of Dutch Delft blue and white covered cruets with decoration after Chinese porcelain of the period. Marked for Adriaenus and Pieter Kocks. Circa 1700-1720. 9. A pair of English hybrid hard paste porcelain plates, most likely Worcester, centered with an unidentified armorial crest. Circa 1805. 10. Figural inkpot, made in Germany, produced as a promotional item for Carter’s Inks. Early 20 th century. 11. Small lusterware jar, marked with the blue cockerel for the Cantagalli Pottery, Florence, late 19th century, made as recreation of the earlier Italian Renaissance lusterwares. Along with a flamboyantly handled lusterware pitcher with pseudo-Islamic decoration, also of the same period, catering to the Aesthetic Movement taste of the times. 12. Tin–glazed Moroccan cous-cous bowl, with early staple repairs. Late 18th/early 19th century. 13. Chinese export fish-decorated dinner plate, perhaps from a set for the fish course at formal dinners so popular at the time? Circa 1880. 14. Pair of nearly identical teabowls and saucers, one Chinese export porcelain, one English New Hall, a nice example of the influences of the East upon the West. Late 18th century. 15. A Parian bust of Clytie, a symbol of devoted, unrequited love as she always looked at the Sun God Apollo as he crossed the sky, but her affections were never returned, and she eventually turned into a sunflower. These busts were made in every size and every subject throughout the second half of the 19th century by firms like Copeland, Wedgwood and Minton’s to imitate classical white marble statuary. 14. A Worcester shell-shaped dessert dish, possibly clobbered with honey gilding. Circa 1770-80s. 15. A Weston form lusterware pitcher with a rare impressed “W” mark. Circa 1805-1829. Has anyone ever seen this mark? Contact Greg Lovell. 16. A Chelsea-Derby teapot and undertray, marked for the period 1770s-1784. The editor apologizes if he has overlooked anyone’s submission.
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#1 Littler’s Wedgwood Blue Salt Glazed Plate #7 Chinese Export Clobbered Guglet
#10 Carter’s Ink Bottle
#11 19th Century Lustrewares
#13 Chinese Export “Fish” Plate
#14 Parian bust of Clytie
#8 Dutch Delft Cruets
#12 Moroccan Couscous Bowl
#15 Chelsea Derby tea pot and undertray
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LENOX CHINA TALK Reported by Jeff Brown On March 27th the CSC welcomed Melissa Bennie, Vice president, Head of Sales from Christies, New York to speak on Lenox Porcelain from the White House to Your House. Melissa had attempted this talk a year or two ago, but due to a huge electrical fire and black-out in the Back Bay, she had to return to New York and the CSC meeting was cancelled. Her perseverance in returning to speak with us was warmly appreciated and the postponed lecture much enjoyed. The history of Lenox falls into three distinct periods; each of these corresponding to events taking place outside the insular world of ceramics and impacting the greater world of industrial arts in America. The precursor to Lenox was the Ceramics Art Company, founded in 1899. The leading player in this endeavor was the sophisticated Walter Scott Lenox (1869-1920) who was the descendant of a well-to-do New Jersey merchant and trading family. Walter took little interest in his father’s hardware business and trained as a sculptor in his youth. He formed a partnership with another investor and in 1889 and formed the Ceramics Art Company which sought to emulate the refined wares of such European manufactories as Belleek and Royal Worcester. Up until this point, American porcelain production focused on the sturdy and the utilitarian; it was the European wares that were admired for their sophistication. Walter tried to elevate American porcelain production to those standards and succeeded in spades. Though a small studio pottery, it quickly became known for its brilliant hand-painting and exquisite detail. Examples from the pottery at this early stage were already entering the collection of the Smithsonian Institute and were retailed at very high end establishments, such as Marshal Fields, Bailey, Banks and Biddle, and Tiffany and Co. The incorporation of the firm under the name of Lenox in 1906 marks the second period during which tableware became its primary focus. One of the most prominent services ever created at Lenox came out of this early period of incorporation: The Roebling Service. Named for a son of the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge who ordered it, each of the thirty-two plates features a meticulously painted species of orchid. Another group of designs from this period feature clipper ships and yachts, themes that would appeal to the patrician clients that Lenox was trying to attract. With the appointment of Frank Graham Holmes as their chief designer, Lenox did not lack for brilliant patterns. During his long stint with Lenox, one beautiful pattern after another was
introduced. First rate decorators were also engaged to execute these patterns; men like William Morley, the best botanical painter of his time, worked with the company from 1927-1935. Page 8
Despite the Depression and a World War, Lenox did not lose its cachet and patrician patronage continued. In 1947 the King of Saudi Arabia ordered a three thousand piece dinner service to the cost of $30,000. As for Presidential patronage, it was in 1918 that Mrs. Woodrow Wilson ordered the first Presidential service; seventeen hundred pieces at a cost of $11,000. Until this point, all White House china was ordered from Europe, such was the high regard in which European porcelains were held. In 1934, Mrs. Roosevelt submitted an order for a thousand piece dinner service at a cost of $9,000, a huge sum during the depths of the Great Depression. The Truman service was ordered from Lenox in 1951 from B. Altman and Co. to coordinate with the newly redecorated State Dining Room with a Williamsburg Green border to match the color of the room’s paneling. The set cost the taxpayers $26,000. and the American eagle is depicted facing right towards the olive branch he’s clutching, not the quiver of arrows. The ever-increasing size of formal dinners during the Reagan administration required the ordering of the last Presidential service from Lenox; the four thousand, three hundred-seventy pieces, at a cost of $210,000, were fortunately gifted to the White House and bore a scarlet border, Nancy Reagan’s favorite color. Since then, the Clinton White House has only re-ordered pieces from the earlier Wilson and Roosevelt services to bring the sets up to their original numbers. Following World War II, Lenox entered a third phase under the direction John Tassie. The postwar middle class demanded Lenox quality dinnerware and ornaments at an accessible price and a new factory was built in 1954. It was during this time that their most famous pattern, “Kingsley” was created. And although their advertisements continued to trade on their prestigious name and history of luxurious products, the company continued to expand lines of giftware and ornaments (the famous Lenox swan arose from this period) and the company acquired licenses such as Disney and teamed with other great names such as Gorham to create coordinated lines of china, crystal, silver and table linens. On March 16, 2009, a group of investors led by Clarion Capital Partners LLC purchased the assets of Lenox and renamed the company Lenox Corporation. It also continues to produce licensed product, such as for designer Kate Spade. Interesting to note in advertisements, though, the name Kate Spade is prominently displayed and the name Lenox is minimal, as it seems that the designer’s name now takes precedence and has the cachet for the consumer. In recent years, the extensive archives, designs, patterns and artifacts of Lenox have been placed by the parent company with local museums and institutions in the area to preserve the record of America’s first luxury fine porcelain company.
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Princess Pattern
Roosevelt Service
Roebling Service
Reagan Service
Clinton Service
Wilson Service
Truman Service
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APRIL MEETING: A CHANGE OF PLANS Program Director Anne Lanning was thrown a bit of a curve ball for our April meeting when the speaker she had engaged months prior simply vanished days before our scheduled event! Ann’s emails and phone calls a week or so prior to the April 24 date to confirm Carla Coch’s visit went completely unanswered. Anne said in all the years of her service as Program Director to our organization, this was a first. A last minute decision to hold an impromptu “Bits n Pieces” meeting was made and an email went out to the membership announcing the change in plans. Unfortunately, only eight people attended the meeting, but despite that, there were some fine objects and good discussions to be had. Here are a few objects shared by members: 1. A pair of Chinese export chrysanthemum-molded plates, the centers decorated with a rather eccentric-looking tiger under a pine tree; made for the Japanese market, circa 1620-40. 2. A pair of 18th century English shaped creamware plates both decorated with transfer prints of exotic birds, one in black, the other red, and both with different border designs; shown along with an enameled polychrome tea canister with similar birds, illustrating the popularity of this decoration. The plates were most likely made in Staffordshire and then sent to Liverpool to be printed. The plates dated to circa 1760-1770; the tea canister most likely 19 th century. There seems to be no known design source or inspiration for the exotic bird prints. 3. Some fine examples of miniatures from our resident master miniaturist Lee-Ann Wessel, one a covered Chinese jar decorated in blue and white with orange koi swimming amongst aquatic plants, along with an image of the original from which she worked, as well as a pair of miniature copies of Chinese export chargers. 4. A Japanese Imari barber’s bowl, circa 1720. 5. A Dutch delftware punch bowl with deep sides and raised on a tall, Chinese-looking foot, circa 1740. It was remarked that punch bowls with higher sides were more the fashion in the earlier part of the 18th century, and bowls with lower, wider profiles appeared later in the century. 8. A Chinese export late 17th/early18th century blanc-de-chine libation cup with molded auspicious images such as a deer, after a traditional form made from rhinoceros horn. Rhino horn cups once extremely sought after and revered, now, though still desirable, are falling under strict international laws banning trade of articles made from endangered species. The blanc- de- chine
shown alongside a contemporary turned wood cup showing a definite design influence from the ancient Chinese forms. Page 11
9. A Martin Brothers beaker with an early geometric pattern. The Martin Brothers were really the first studio art potters in London working in Southwark in the later 19 th century. This beaker was juxtaposed with another created by studio art potter Bernie Forrester (1908-1990), and it shows a direct design influence from one in his possession made by the Martin Brothers. 10. A collection of contemporary Moroccan Fez pottery, circa 1985, all modern versions of the classic tin-glazed wares made in the region. We noted the very geometric patterns resulting from earlier Islamic prohibitions against vegetable or animal decoration.
18th Century Delft Bowl
Japanese Arita Barber’s Bowl c.1710
Blanc de Chine Libation Cup c.1700
STAFFORDSHIRE LECTURE CLOSES THE SEASON Reported by Jeff Brown from notes by NanWolverton The 2013-2014 season at the China Students’ Club of Boston drew to a close in May at the College Club in Boston. The year of brilliantly curated programs by Anne Lanning concluded with our annual meeting and tea where current member, and past president, Nan Wolverton gave a talk entitled, American Identity and 19th–Century Printed Staffordshire: The Emma DeForest Morse Collection at the American Antiquarian Society. Nan is presently Director of The Center for Historic American Visual Culture (CHAViC) at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA. In 1913 Emma DeForest Morse donated her collection of American historical printed wares (numbering about 300 pieces) to the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA, a national
research library devoted to American history and culture before the 20th century. Notes from the society’s proceedings acknowledged at the time that it was one of most valuable gifts made to the Page 12
organization by a non-member since its founding in 1812. Note that as a woman Morse could not be elected a member; it wasn’t until 1960 that Esther Forbes became the first female member. Ceramic historian Anne Anderson has observed that the attraction of Old Blue Staffordshire was two-fold: its historical value and its decorative effect. Blue Staffordshire rose to prominence in the ancestor-conscious 1890s. Patriotic societies such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Dames had aroused pride in ancestral possessions. Permanent pictures of what perceived as a vanished America were preserved in the wares of Clews, Ridgway, Stevenson, Wood and others. This interest fell hand-in-hand with a general craze in the last half of the 19 th century for china collecting in general. Emma DeForest Morse was one of the most successful collectors of blue Staffordshire wares; she began collecting both early furniture and china around 1885 focusing on American scenes, hoping to acquire every known American view printed in dark blue. When failing in dark blue, she also acquired objects in light brown, black or pink. It is only the most popular and universally widespread designs, such as the Landing of Lafayette or the Boston State House that were found on all the pieces of dinner services and sold together. Sets were formed, usually having the same borders, with different designs on the various-sized pieces. One of most popular patterns was J & W Ridgway’s Beauties of America. In 1822 John Ridgway traveled to Boston for a two month tour of the eastern United States in order to procure views of major American cities and establish relationships with American ceramic merchants. It appears Ridgway hired local artists to render his views; in Boston it was most likely Abel Bowen (17901850) as six of the eight Boston views were later published in Bowen’s book of 1829 Picture of Boston or the Citizen’s and Stranger’s Guide to the metropolis of Massachusetts and Its Environs. It is interesting to note that these “beauties” of America were seldom the natural beauties that tourists would often seek out today, but rather buildings and institutions that expressed the special characteristics and the degree of civilization of the people of America; sites of great national and civic pride. Hence, one tourist in 1827 Boston described a round of sight-seeing that included rope works, printing offices, prisons, penitentiaries, almshouses, navy and building yards, many of which required special letters of introduction to be shown around. The aforementioned Beauties of America service, then, would have included views of the Exchange in Charleston, the Capitol at Washington, the Boston Hospital, New York City Hall, the Philadelphia Library, the Boston Octagon Church and the Boston Insane Asylum.
There are, though, some examples in the Morse collection that do depict scenic and resort images such as Niagra Falls and the Nahant House hotel, as well as current events such as New York’s Great Fire of 1835. Page 13
The Morse Collection remains on display in the Council Room at the American Antiquarian Society for all to enjoy; please do come for a visit, no letter of introduction required!
Boston Alms House Tureen
View of New York
Alms House Print Source
View of Niagara Falls
Boston Insane Hospital
Landing of Lafayette Page 14