Vase
Artist
Sheldon Carey
(American, 1911 - 1999)
Date1959
MediumStoneware with glaze
DimensionsOverall: 10 7/8 × 4 7/8 inches (27.62 × 12.38 cm)
Credit LineGift of Harrison Jedel in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Object number2008.76.5
Inscribed"Carey '59" inscribed on the base
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThe vase rests on a round base which is inset from the body of the vessel approximately ¾". The body of the vase is basically cylindrical with a slight amount of outward swelling towards the top, at which point the vase narrows to a small, round neck that flairs outward at its top. The vessel is glazed in a creamy grey-white color that allows in places for the deep brown clay body to show through. The clay on the surface of the vessel has been systematically indented with a round shape which is surrounded by a rounded half-tunnel of clay that protrudes from the face of the vessel. The pattern of these protrusions forms horizontal rows that encompass the circumference of the vessel; there are a little over 20 of these horizontal patterned rows which begin at the base and continue to the beginning of the neck.Gallery LabelThis elegant vase was produced by Sheldon Carey's innovative technique of throwing forms upside-down and in reverse order, a technique that he achieved by adjustments he made to his potter's wheel. For the vase here, Carey, former head of the ceramics division at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, impressed geometric designs into the clay when it had dried to a leather-hard stage, thereby creating organic, ridged surfaces reminiscent of gourds or loofahs.
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