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Like many potteries of the period, Newcomb Pottery employed male potters to form the wares, while the decorations were designed and executed by young women associated with Newcomb College. Although every piece of Newcomb Pottery is unique, the motif of live oak trees was especially popular with customers of the enterprise and not well suited to the tall vase form. A symbol of strength in the southern visual vocabulary, live oaks have a large spreading canopy and a sturdy trunk flaring solidly toward the ground.
ProvenanceFrom 1984
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Jordan-Volpe Gallery, New York on October 30, 1984. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, October 30, 1984, copy object file.
Exhibition History
DepartmentAmerican Art
Vase
Maker
Newcomb Pottery
(1895 - 1931)
Date1929
Mediumearthenware, matte glazes
DimensionsHeight: 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
Other (circumference): 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1984.2.5
DescriptionThe elongated ovoid vase of buff-colored earthenware is covered with a continuous and mesmerizing scene of Spanish moss covered live oak (Quercus virginiana) trees executed by Anne Frances Simpson (1880-1930) in low relief and delineated with typical Newcomb Pottery medium blue and green glazes against a pale blue background through which the buff body shows in part. The whole is covered with a transparent matt glaze. Like many potteries of the period, Newcomb Pottery employed male potters to form the wares, while the decorations were designed and executed by young women associated with Newcomb College. Although every piece of Newcomb Pottery is unique, the motif of live oak trees was especially popular with customers of the enterprise and not well suited to the tall vase form. A symbol of strength in the southern visual vocabulary, live oaks have a large spreading canopy and a sturdy trunk flaring solidly toward the ground.
ProvenanceFrom 1984
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Jordan-Volpe Gallery, New York on October 30, 1984. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, October 30, 1984, copy object file.
Exhibition History
Status
On viewCollections