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Vase, Purple Ceramic
Vase, Purple Ceramic

Vase, Purple Ceramic

Artist
Dateca. 1910
MediumCeramic earthenware
DimensionsHeight: 10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineGift of Isabel and William Berley, Classes of 1947 and 1945
Terms
  • Vessel
  • Vessels - Vases
  • Ceramics
  • German
Object number99.078.139
Label CopyBRIEF DESCRIPTION This is a glazed ceramic earthenware vase from the Art Nouveau period, designed by Christian Neureuther. WHERE WAS IT MADE? This vase was made in Germany. WHO WAS THE ARTIST? This vase is the work of Christian Neureuther. Little is known about Neureuther, a designer who worked in the art department of the German ceramics manufacturer, Wächtersbacher Steingutfabrik. Neureuther was hired there in 1903 and introduced the curving, whiplash decorative motifs used by artists of the Art Nouveau movement into the ceramic earthenware referred to as Bacher Stoneware. Bacher Stoneware ceramics were created in cooperation with artists associated with the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony such as Joseph Maria Olbrich, Peter Behrens, and Hans Christiansen. An off-shoot of the Jugendstil, the Darmstadt Colony sought to revitalize local creativity and passion for the arts by founding workshops and factories. HOW WAS IT MADE? In making an earthenware vessel like this one, first the clay was shaped and molded and then decorated with the desired colors and patterns. Then a thin glaze was applied to the surface. Following this, the vessel was fired in a kiln at around 1000 to 1200 degrees Celsius. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS? The repeated decoration seen on this vase is very typical of the Art Nouveau style in Germany. Art Nouveau is French for “New Art.” In Germany it was known as Jugendstil. The name refers to a new modern style that developed in the 1880s in Europe. This style represented the rejection of rigid academic revivalism that had become the dominant style. Characterized by whiplash curves, organic imagery and sinuous lines, the style remained enormously popular into the first decade of the 20th century. Notice the curving bright purple lines that appear to flow across the surface of this vase. The name Art Nouveau came from the Paris shop of Siegfried Bing that opened in 1895, quickly popularizing the works of artists like Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose work became synonymous with (or symbolic of) the American Art Nouveau style.
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