Ezra Shales
Throwing the Potter's Wheel (and Women) Back into Modernism: Reconsidering Edith Heath, Karen Karnes, and Toshiko Takaezu as Canonical Figures

Ceramics in America 2016

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Edith Heath (1911–2005) at wheel, undated. (Edith Heath (1911–2005) at wheel, undated. Heath (Brian and Edith)/Heath Ceramics Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley, design archives@berkeley.edu)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Karen Karnes (1925–2016) at wheel, ca. 1952–1954. (Courtesy, UNC State Archives Raleigh; photo, Edward Dupuy.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011), ca. 1960. (Courtesy, American Craft Council.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), The Lacemaker, 1669/1670. Oil on canvas. 8" x 9". (Courtesy, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France; photo, Bridgeman Images.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Brochure, New York World’s Fair, 1939. (Author’s collection.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Edith Heath (1911–2005), Coupe (model cup), 1948. Glazed stoneware. H. 5". (Edith Heath (1911–2005), Coupe (model cup), 1948. Glazed stoneware. H. 5". Heath (Brian and Edith)/Heath Ceramics Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley, design archives@berkeley.edu)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Demonstration of how the cup illustrated in fig. 6 can be held while smoking. (Photo, Caitlin Brown.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Karen Karnes (1925–2016), Stools, 1960–1967. Stoneware. Each 18" x 21 3/4" x 16 3/4". (Courtesy, Museum of Arts and Design, New York; photo, Ezra Shales.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011), Tamarind, ca. 1960. Stoneware. H. 35". (Collection of Peter Russo; photo, Brian Oglesbee.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Edith Heath to Edgar Kaufmann jr., April 10, 1947. (Edith Heath to Edgar Kaufmann jr., April 10, 1947. Heath (Brian and Edith)/Heath Ceramics Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley, design archives@berkeley.edu)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Edith Heath, Marguerite Wildenhain, Lenore Tawney, and Toshiko Takaezu, June 1957. (Courtesy, American Craft Council.) The four artists are pictured at the First Annual National Conference of American Craftsmen, sponsored by the American Craftsmen’s Council and held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, in Pacific Grove, California, June 12–14, 1957.

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Karen Karnes (1925–2016), Double Vase with Candlestick Holders, 1951. Stone­ware. H. 9 1/2", W. 13 7/8". (Courtesy, Everson Museum of Art, Lacoste Gallery.) The illustration is from Karnes’s submission to the 16th Ceramic National.

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Detail of one of the stools illustrated in fig. 8. (Photo, Ezra Shales.)

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Karen Karnes seating at Jack Larsen’s Round House. (Press photograph stamped and labeled New York Daily News, January 9, 1967; photographer unknown.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Karen Karnes seating at Jack Larsen’s Round House, 2015. (Photo, Ezra Shales.)

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Karen Karnes (1925–2016), ceramic seating and hearth, Milan Triennale, 1964. (Archive photo courtesy Biblioteca del Progetto.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Karen Karnes (1925–2016), Double Seat (under model) and Bird Houses, Milan Triennale, 1964. Illustration in Saturday Evening Post, October 17, 1964.

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011), Nommo, Unas, Nephythys, Po Tolo (Dark Companion), and Isis (Sirius) from the Star series (fourteen works), 1999–2000. Glazed stoneware. H. ranging from 47" to 66". (Collection of the Racine Art Museum; gift of the artist; photo, Michael Tropea.)