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Coffeepot and tray

Designer Bonnie Seeman American
2003
Not on view
Evoking the naturalistic forms of mid-eighteenth-century British ceramics, Seeman's coffeepot appears nostalgic and perhaps even retrograde. Yet upon closer examination, forms that look like rhubarb and cabbage leaves actually represent human tissue. When the top is removed, the underside reveals white pulp and seeds reminiscent of pomegranate that can also be read as bone and red corpuscles—familiar forms that attract then repulse.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Coffeepot and tray
  • Designer: Bonnie Seeman (American, born Great Neck, New York, 1969)
  • Date: 2003
  • Medium: Glazed porcelain
  • Dimensions: 10 3/4 × 8 1/8 × 6 1/4 in., 3.2 lb. (27.3 × 20.6 × 15.9 cm, 1.5 kg)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Funds from various donors, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.88a–c
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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