SHARDS Autumn 2021

______ ___________________________________________ AUTUMN 2021

LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT Dear Members, Thank you to all for entrusting me as the President of Ceramics Study Club of Boston. The early nineteenth century diary of red earthenware potter Daniel Hazen of Hopkinton, New Hampshire referred to the late fall and early winter as a his “time of malalazy” where he would lie abed for days at a time. There are times during this pandemic all of us have felt this way. The cause of Daniel’s malaise was likely lead poisoning. I am especially thankful we are not laying about but continue our programs with a strong lecture series and see each other in zoom screens monthly. It is a testament to the Club members and program leader, Anne Lanning we are able to do this.

While I miss seeing everyone face to face, I am delighted to have a cup of tea and watch these lectures at my desk.

Our January meeting via zoom will feature Charlotte Jacob-Hanson Independent Ceramics Researcher and Author speaking on Fidelle Duvivier – Inspired Eye, Gifted Hand. This lecture looks at many new discoveries regarding his career, including some of his work for the Sceaux manufactory near Paris, c. 1766-68 and again c. 1775, as well as work done in England c. 1769-73 (mainly at Derby).

February is our annual Bits and Pieces program. Please review your collections and research notes to bring forward objects or sherds for our panel of experts to discuss. No matter in person or via zoom, we will gather and share our knowledge and enthusiasm for ceramics study.

I hope you too are finding comfort from our Club programs and the generosity of our sister organizations welcoming us to their programs. Exhibits and programs continue in our region and beyond. I encourage you to continue to support museums, galleries and potters. Please check your Blue Book and notices from Jo Anne Brown for upcoming programs.

Page 1

Our expectation is we will resume our meetings at the King’s Chapel Parish House later this year.

Please invite a friend or colleague new to ceramic study to join our meetings and club.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Martha E. Pinello President, Ceramics Study Club of Boston

SEPTEMBER BEGINS WITH A TALK ON FRENCH CERAMICIST TAXILE DOAT Still under the precautionary veil of covid mandates, the CSC convened its first meeting of the 2021-2020 season via Zoom, masterfully directed by Anne Lanning who introduced our first speaker Linda Roth who spoke on Taxile Doat: From Sevres to St. Louis and Back. Linda is Director of Special Curatorial Projects and the Charles C. and Eleanor Lamont Cunningham Curator of European Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT. Linda introduced us to the French ceramicist Taxile Doat (1851-1938) who had captured her imagination some time ago and who is the subject of a special exhibition she wants to develop for the Wadsworth Athenaeum. He was born in Alby, France (also the birthplace of Toulouse Lautrec), and after college moved to Limoges where he worked in the postal and telegraph office, but apparently, working in a world center of porcelain production, he became very interested in making ceramics. In 1875 Doat quit his job and moved to Paris where he entered the studio of sculptor Augustin Dumont where he exhibited a great talent for carving and sculpting. His early ceramic work was primarily in the technique of pate-sur-pate – literally paste-on paste - a complex process that results in a cameo-like design. Watered down clay, or “slip”, is basically laid down on a colored ground in thin layers and then when dry, worked with modeling tools to create gradations of color using the background showing through. This process was invented at the Sevres factory and perfected around 1850. In 1877, Doat joined the Sevres factory having mastered the pate-sur-pate technique. He did not, though, give up his studio work, creating pieces of his own having mastered the rendering of human anatomy and plant life. He embraced a wide range of themes in his work ranging from classical mythology to genre scenes to historical architecture but all the while producing many pate-sur-pate porcelain plaques. In this Doat was greatly influenced by an earlier pate-sur-pate master, Mark Louis Emmanuel Solon, who worked at Sevres and later at Minton’s. The one characteristic in common between the work of Solon and Doat was that it was usually infused with a sense of humor.

Page 2

Doat was entrusted with some major commissions from Sevres, but all the while he never gave up his studio work which was greatly frowned upon by the factory administration. He was soon required to submit concept designs for their approval which often met with the criticism of Artistic Director Theodore Deck and the administration who did not appreciate the artist’s month-long leaves of absence to work in his studio. Doat continued to create and developed another technique like pate-sur-pate but without the translucent effect where he basically applied his sculpting skills carving a thicker and more heavily applied slip which created a more solid sculptural effect.

Left: Doat Pate-Sur-Pate Vase, circa 1877. Right: Porcelain plaque, circa 1901.

He later moved his studio, aptly named Villa Kaolin, to within a quarter mile of the Sevres factory; it was here that he perfected his glazes for which he is also well known. This was something that could not be done at Sevres where he worked in a “closed shop” factory environment – he was hired to be a decorator and so he had to work in the decorator’s shop. But in the studio, he immersed himself in the entire process and this intense hands-on experience constantly inspired him. He learned to work in both porcelain and stoneware and liked to combine and contrast them in the same piece. This required a new recipe which he developed which involved adding finely ground up porcelain “grog” to the stoneware clay, so the two pastes were more in sync with each other when they were fired.

He continued to innovate, developing crystalline glazes, and using natural forms enlivened by newly developed glazes as well as a technique to create a similar pate-sur-pate effect by layering the slip into molds rather than painstakingly applying them in layers to the surface.

Page 3

Above: Three examples of Doat’s inventive work. Left: Taxile Doat frequently returned to certain forms – here a traditional pilgrim’s flask combining his stoneware and porcelain technique – he often contrasted the elegance of his porcelain pate-sur-pate plaques inset against a stoneware body, circa 1900. Center: Another familiar form to Doat was a naturalistic ribbed gourd form, here the body flowing with one of his experimental glazes inset with one of his classical plaques. Right: An elegant simple form vase showcasing one of Doat’s crystalline glazes, circa 1912. Below: one of Taxile Doat’s pieces demonstrating his pate-sur-pate technique with the medallions created by painting the slip over the mold and working it, circa 1900.

In 1900 Paris hosted the L’Exposition Universelle at which Sevres had a prominent booth, generously showcasing some of Doat’s work. It did not go down well with Sevres that Doat had his own booth representing his studio work at the same fair. By 1905, Doat was forcibly “retired” from Sevres, but continued his studio work in a range of styles from Japonesque to pieces showcasing his range of glazes. In 1901 Doat moved to St. Louis, Missouri to direct the ceramics Page 4

division of the newly established Art Academy of the American Woman’s League. He brought 171 of his own pieces introducing his forms and glazes, but sadly the operation folded, and he returned to France to work at Sevres by 1914. Throughout the 1920s and until his death in 1938 he continued to work – his designs showing the influence of the Art Deco, and reprising forms and glazes from earlier years. He brilliantly straddled the world of factory work and studio potter, making the best of both worlds.

Two of Doat’s works from the 1920s.

OCTOBER TALK FOCUSES ON 17TH CENTURY CERAMICS IN THE PISCATAQUA REGION Our CSC meeting for October convened once again over Zoom but was none the less enlightening with a lecture presented by archaeologist Emerson “Tad” Baker of Salem State University in New Hampshire who spoke on the topic of Ceramics and Life in the Piscataqua Region in the Seventeenth Century as told through the evidence of two major archaeological sites from that region.

The two sites Tad discussed couldn’t have been more different, yet they basically told the same story: people enjoyed owning really nice things. We have this image of people striving for survival in this really harsh remote wilderness, but tend to forget that they also lived on the Atlantic rim with all its trading connections across the ocean and beyond. Many shards from these sites were originally misattributed or left unidentified for decades until ongoing research has helped identify the pieces and their origins and the scope of the early trading connections that brought them there.

The first site discussed was the Chadbourne site. Named for the leading family that settled at the confluence of the Great Works River and the Salmon Falls River in South Berwick, Maine. It is Page 5

unlike many archaeological sites as it can be rather specifically dated from between the time of its founding in 1643, through two raids by French and Native American forces when the house was burned and rebuilt, until it’s final destruction in 1690.

The second site discussed, which yielded a huge cache of ceramic wares, was located underwater at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It was here that several shipwrecks were discovered by a father and son weekend dive team, John and Raymond Demers. Hence The Demers Collection came into being with a huge trove of ceramics being culled piece by piece by these two divers from the water during the 1970s and 1980s. Tad surmises, despite their earnest efforts, valuable information might have been lost by their not following archaeological protocols. That said, there is a huge number of artifacts – from shards to complete objects – which the Demers assiduously tried to identify, and which have now been more thoroughly sorted and identified by volunteers at Strawbery Banke. It is currently being stored at the Newcastle Historical Society.

Both the Chadbourne site and the Demers Collection provide a very rich picture of what was coming into this area of New England in the 17th century and being used in people’s homes.

Fishing and lumber brought wealth and ceramics to this area. In the 1680s there is ample evidence of the most au courant in English delft with chinoiserie decoration as well as rare Blue Persian wares which is an example of the English imitating the French imitating the Persians – as seen below:

Page 5

Just as common as English delft was Portuguese faience – wares not even recognized as such a couple of decades ago. It is similar to delft but can be distinguished by its imagery outlined in manganese and then filled in with blue. Other design attributes of the Portuguese wares are geometrics, florals, and half concentric circles. Keep in mind many New England families had connections with Newfoundland fisheries with whom the Portuguese traded: fish was traded for Portuguese wine and ceramics.

Portuguese Faience and Redware One of the best pieces out of the Chadbourne site was a large, molded charger exhibiting a Chinese/Wanli influence in its decoration. Many Portuguese wares show a decidedly Wanli influence which brilliantly demonstrates the scope of their trade network across the globe.

In contrast to the decorative charger there is ample evidence of large quantities of modest Portuguese redware, often distinguished by its burnished surface. In addition to the Portuguese pieces at the Chadbourne site there are examples of French wares as well (despite prohibitions against trading with the French).

When one includes the Demers site collection one can fully appreciate the breadth of wares coming into the Piscataqua region at this period. The range also includes German and Rhineland ceramics such as mugs and jugs in Westerwald and Frechen stoneware; combed and dotted wares from Bristol; numerous coarse redwares - some from North Devon potteries, most utilitarian in nature – milk pans, storage jars, and cooking pots; as well as some North Devon sgraffito wares.

Two of the rarest far-flung examples to have turned up are Iberian oil jars of conical form and an extremely rare northern Italian marbleized ware in the form of a canteen called a costrel, circa 1650, as seen on the next page.

Page 6

So in conclusion, Tad just wanted to emphasize that the remote 17th century Piscataqua region was not that isolated as we may have thought; it was a really active participant (and consumer) in a larger transatlantic trade with global connections.

VIVIAN HAWES LECTURE ON THE KATZ COLLECTION Another Zoom lecture closed our Fall lecture offerings which was the club’s Vivian Hawes Memorial Lecture given each year in tribute to our former club member and President, Vivian Hawes, for all her contributions to ceramics research and scholarship. A fitting subject for this year’s celebration, our talk was entitled A Formidable Assembly: The Katz Collection of English Porcelain at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presented by a friend and colleague of Vivian’s – Thomas Michie, the Russell B. and Andree Beauchamp Stearns Senior Curator Emeritus of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, as well as CSC member.

Tom began his talk with some background about the MFA’s early collections of porcelain. From its beginning on Copley Square in the late 19th century, the Museum of Fine Arts held a strong collection of English ceramics, with Wedgwood being one of the most prominent representatives of the group. Though the museum’s actual holdings were thin in the beginning, the collection was enhanced greatly by pieces on loan from private collectors. That certainly changed over time with a progression of donors to the collection, two of the most prominent being Sigmund and Jesse Katz. Before this remarkable couple came on the scene, though, there were several predecessors who laid the foundation of the collection and influenced what the Katzes would later add to.

First there was a prominent late 19th century collector, George Washington Wales, who lived in Beacon Street and eventually left the MFA four hundred pieces of European and Asian ceramics when he died in 1896. A generation later, the next great contributor to the MFA was the Harvardeducated brahmin Richard Cushing Paine (1893-1966) whose acquisition of a Chelsea porcelain Page 7

collection from an English connoisseur named Hutton formed the core of his holdings. It was the Hutton pieces of early English porcelain in Paine’s collection that were so influential on the Katzes’ early collecting.

Now onto Sigmund and Jesse Katz. Sigmund was born in 1897 in Louisiana into a prominent banking family. He attended Tulane University where he met Jesse and they were married in 1922.

He joined his family’s firm which would probably explain his meteoric rise from clerk to an executive position in less than a year. The Katzes began collecting around 1941 when they purchased an early St. James Factory figure of a bird. They bought from many prominent dealers, but the most influential relationship they had was with English émigré Alex Lewis who had opened a branch of his father’s London antiques shop in Madison Avenue in New York. This relationship was a close one and the Katzes consulted with him on many acquisitions over the years.

By 1952, Sigmund and Jesse started making annual gifts to the Rhode Island School of Design – one of the first being a remarkable Bow three-piece garniture set. In 1953 the couple returned to RISD with Alex Lewis in tow and soon after gifted the school a collection of Meissen porcelain as well as pieces of Bow and Chelsea. What is odd is that the Katzes didn’t seem to have any strong connection or affinity for RISD – it just seems that at the time, tax codes favored donations to educational institutions over museums. Fortunately, tax codes changed, and thirty-seven pieces of Meissen and Bottger stoneware were donated to the MFA. By the late 1950s, the couple seemed to have lost interest in German porcelain. Impressed and influenced by the Hutton and Paine pieces at the MFA the Katzes proceeded to donate more; 1954 seeing arrivals of Derby, Bow, Bristol, and Plymouth wares – all examples that the MFA did not have. The goal soon became to create a comprehensive collection of early English porcelain. It was important to Sigmund and Jesse to have a study collection, and for it all to be on display – an option, Tom remarked that few curators would be able to have today.

Fifty-three more gifts arrived including a group of eight Chelsea Goat & Bee pitchers exhibiting all known variations of decoration. Sadly, in 1958 Sigmund died after which Jesse seems to have lost her interest in collecting, although she did continue her research. Late gifts to the museum included a pair of Bow covered pitchers, a Chelsea milk jug, a Longton sauceboat, and a Chelsea hen tureen. Jesse also donated $25,000.00 for a catalogue to be written about the collection of approximately fifteen hundred pieces and the first person to take up the task was our own Vivian Hawes! The catalogue work continues to this day and hopefully will online in the future.

The Katz collection grew over thirty years and through eight successive curators to become what they had envisioned – a comprehensive pre-eminent collection of early English porcelain. The balance between display and study for the collection today now leans more towards display due not only to limited display space, but also because many of the objects have been restored and are ‘showing their age’ and yellowing and are in need of countless hours of restoration. Nevertheless, it remains to this day a “Formidable Assembly”.

Page 8

Here are a few of Tom’s choice pieces from the Katz Collection:

Left: Charle Gouyn’s St. James Factory Hercules & Omphale

Right: Bow Factory Figure of Clio

Left: Chelsea Factory Hen and Chicks Tureen. Right: Bow Factory Woman with Lyre Figure

Garniture Set of Three Vauxhall Covered Vases Page 9