Permanent Collection Record
Images
Additional Images [1]
Metadata
Object ID |
2004.6 |
Collection |
Ceramics Collection |
Media Collection |
American Art Pottery Collection |
Manufacturer |
J. B. Owens Pottery Company (1885-1907) |
Title |
Utopian Lightweight Tankard Featuring a Portrait of a Greek Woman |
Date |
1898-1901 |
Decorator |
Anna Fulton Best (1874-1955) |
Cipher |
A stylized "AFB" for Anna Fulton Best appears on the underside. |
Makers Marks |
This piece has an incised JBO manufacturer's script logo, a die-impressed "819" shape number, and an incised AFB decorator cipher on the vessel's underside. |
Description |
This is one of three rare, large Utopian Lightweight tankards in the museum's collection made at J. B. Owens Pottery Company (1885-1907) between 1898 and 1901. It bears a die-impressed "819" shape number, an incised "JBO" script manufacturer's mark, and the decorator's cipher on the vessel's underside. Not all three examples are as clearly marked. In fact, one of the three, the 2000.18 tankard featuring a portrait of the Oglala Lakota Warrior bears a Weller Lonhuda Faience LF Shield maker's mark. This Owens tankard has a dramatic gradient background that features a portrait of a veiled Greek woman holding a large, decorative tapered amphora made for storing wine. The scene was painted by the pottery decorator Anna Fulton Best (1874-1955) between 1898 and 1901 when she was in her mid-twenties. Best was born in Kentucky and moved to Zanesville, Ohio in 1898 when she married Nolan R Best (1871-1930) the Editor of the Zanesville Courier. She moved to Chicago in August 1901 with her husband who was offered a new position at a Chicago, Illinois newspaper. |
Medium |
Earthenware, Glaze, Underglaze |
Technique |
Cast, Glazed, Underglaze Slip Painted, Sprayed with an Atomizer |
Height (in) |
17.000 |
Diameter (in) |
7.000 |
Culture |
American |
School |
Arts and Crafts Movement |
Place of Origin |
Zanesville, Ohio, United States |
Credit Line |
Purchase, Friends of Art |
People |
Best, Anna Fulton Purchase, Friends of Art |
Search Terms |
Airbrushed American Art American Art Pottery American Artists American Ceramics Amphorae Arts and Crafts Movement Cast Clothing / Dress Female Artists Figures, Women Greeks Hand Decorated High Gloss J.B. Owens Pottery Company (1885-1907) Lightweight Ohio Art Ohio Artists Ohio Companies Ohio Manufacturers Pottery Artists Pottery Decorators Sprayed with an Atomizer Tankards Underglaze Slip Painted Utopian Veils Zanesville Artists Zanesville, Ohio |
Location |
On view in the American Art Pottery Gallery, 1st Floor |