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The Pottery Maker, 1926

An elderly woman brings her granddaughter to a pottery studio in search of a new pitcher—but the mischievous youngster has other plans.
This article is part of From the Vaults, a series that shines a light on the Museum’s audiovisual archive.

“Pottery making is one of the earliest of the crafts—one of the first of the arts—so old that its very origin is unknown.” In “The Pottery Maker” (1926), an elderly woman brings her granddaughter to a pottery studio in search of a new pitcher—but the mischievous youngster has other plans. This enchanting short film, among the earliest made by The Met, is directed by the renowned filmmaker Robert Flaherty, famous for his feature-length documentaries “Nanook of the North” (1922) and “Moana” (1926).

The film is accompanied by a new musical score, composed and performed by Ben Model. For more information, please visit: https://www.silentfilmmusic.com

Read more about the film and Model's new score: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2020/robert-flaherty-the-pottery-maker-pianist-ben-model-interview

As part of The Met’s 150th anniversary in 2020, each month we will release three to four films from the Museum’s extensive moving-image archive, which comprises over 1,500 films, both made and collected by the Museum, from the 1920s onward. This includes rarely seen artist profiles and documentaries, as well as process films about art-making techniques and behind-the-scenes footage of the Museum.

New films every week: https://www.metmuseum.org/150/from-the-vaults

Learn more about the series here: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2020/from-the-vaults-film-archive

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum?sub_confirmation=1

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