Vase with peacock feathers
Designed by Sara Sax
Manufacturer Rookwood Pottery Company American
It was in Cincinnati at the Rookwood Pottery that the drive toward more organic, plant-based forms found fruition. 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. This vase, marked with an incised V, was sheathed in a new type of glaze developed at Rookwood that they called their “Vellum” line, noted for its soft, matte surface. The peacock feather here, both incised and painted, is a rigid conventionalized design that is a more modernist version of developments in America at the end of the nineteenth century.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.