Alan Bennett (American), Large Ovoid Stoneware Floor Vase with Trout

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Late 20th century, fired stoneware with incised trout linework decoration to the shoulder, glazed in mottled olive and earth red tones, signed to the lower foot.

26 x 25 x 25 in.

When Alan was five, he caught a bluegill. He thought it was so beautiful that he kept it in his pocket where his mother found it several days later when she did the laundry. When Rosemary was little, she spent many happy hours fishing with her grandmother in Smithfield, Maine. It was a big deal when she caught a fish. Rosemary is happiest swimming or snorkeling.

Experiences in or around the water and growing up with Jacques Cousteau specials strongly influence our work. The process starts with a series of sketches. We use stoneware clay or porcelain to make the basic forms. These forms are manipulated, hollowed out and added to. The teeth and eyes are made out of porcelain. The pieces are bisque fired. Glazes are applied by dipping, spraying and by brush. The pieces are then glazed fired. The work is about form, expression, color, texture, and movement.

Alan received an MFA in Ceramics from Ohio State University and a BFA in drawing and painting from Arizona State University.

Rosemary has a B.A.E. from Ohio State University. Alan and Rosemary met at OSU in 1980. Alan worked as a designer and technical consultant for El Palomar Ceramics in Talaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico. We started this business together in Bath, New York, as full time clay artists since 1990. The two spend time between New York and North Carolina. (Bio courtesy of Carolina Designer Craftsmen Guild.)

Good estate condition.