Permanent Collection Record
Images
Additional Images [3]
Metadata
Object ID |
2005.1.145 |
Collection |
Ceramics Collection |
Media Collection |
American Art Pottery Collection |
Manufacturer |
J. B. Owens Pottery Company (1885-1907) |
Title |
Utopian Vase Featuring a Portrait Chief White Man of the Kiowa First Nation |
Date |
1898-1902 |
Decorator |
Mary Fauntleroy Stevens (1878-1964) |
Cipher |
A stylized "MFS" for Mary Fauntleroy Stevens appears on the back. |
Makers Marks |
This piece has a die-impressed "1060" on the underside. |
Description |
An example from J.B. Owens Pottery Company's Utopian line introduced in 1896, this vase, shape number 1060, was hand decorated by Mary Fauntleroy Stevens (1878-1964) and features a portrait of Chief White Man, who was a member of the Kiowa First Nation. Fauntleroy, who inscribed the piece "Chief White Man / Kiowa" in underglaze to the bottom right of the portrait, was inspired by a photograph of the sitter taken by Adolph Muhr and copyrighted by Frank Rinehart at the Indian Congress held in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition from August 4 to October 31, 1898, in Omaha, Nebraska. Taking place less than a decade after the end of the Indian Wars, the Indian Congress was the largest such gathering of Indigenous Americans. And Muhr photographed many of the 500 Indigenous people, representing 35 different First Nations. Portraits or depictions of Indigenous Americans were common on American art pottery and captured the early twentieth century nostalgia for the disappearing frontier. Paradoxically, forced migration policies and westward expansion were responsible for the vanishing west and its indigenous populations. |
Medium |
Earthenware, Glaze, Underglaze |
Technique |
Cast, Glazed, Underglaze Slip Painted, Sprayed with an Atomizer |
Height (in) |
11.000 |
Diameter (in) |
5.500 |
Culture |
American |
School |
Arts and Crafts Movement |
Place of Origin |
Zanesville, Ohio, United States |
Credit Line |
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Downey |
Source Collection |
Downey Family Collection |
People |
Stevens, Mary Fauntleroy Downey, Mr. and Mrs. Richard |
Search Terms |
Airbrushed American Art American Art Pottery American Artists American Ceramics American Indians Arts and Crafts Movement Cast Chief White Man Clothing / Dress Female Artists Figures, Men Hand Decorated Headwear High Gloss Indian Congress 1898 Indigenous Americans J.B. Owens Pottery Company (1885-1907) Kiowa Native Americans Ohio Art Ohio Artists Ohio Companies Ohio Manufacturers Portraits Pottery Artists Pottery Decorators Sprayed with an Atomizer Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, 1898 Underglaze Slip Painted Utopian Vases Words and Phrases Zanesville Artists Zanesville, Ohio |
Location |
Not on view |