Vase with lotus flower
Decorated by Kataro Shirayamadani American, born Japan
Manufacturer Rookwood Pottery Company American
It was at the Rookwood Pottery that the drive toward more organic, plant-based forms found fruition in American art pottery. Whether it was a result of the general zeitgeist of 1900 or more specific influences from Europe, some Rookwood artists gradually freed their designs from the constraints of wheel-based forms and painted decoration. Rookwood decorator Kataro Shirayamadani broke the norm with great daring in a bowl, which is wholly in high relief and is shaped like a lotus leaf and flower. The artist was likely looking at Eastern models, possibly Japanese bronzes shaped like a lotus plant. There is a Japanese tradition of lotus-shaped vessels, often with small perforations in the leaves, as are found in Shirayamadani’s vase.
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