Vase

Inscriptions

Stamped and painted, in green, on underside of base: Incised artist's initials, underside of base: AL

Label

Both Maria Oakey Dewing’s painting and the Grueby Faience Company’s vase reflect a renewed reverence for nature in the face of rapid industrialization and urbanization at the turn of the 20th century. Iris at Dawn, which Dewing painted in her Cornish, New Hampshire, garden, reveals both her artistry and horticultural knowledge. In this immersive composition she rendered each blossom with exquisite detail, capturing the iris at various stages of growth and decay.

Typical of Grueby’s wares, this vase boasts a tactile matte glaze and earthy, plant-inspired decoration. The firm’s practice of hand-throwing rather than using molds to shape its vessels epitomized values associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Women trained at Boston’s art schools typically applied Grueby’s floral designs.

What significance do flowers have in our present-day culture and in your own life?

From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Once fully coated with pitch or resin, this tightly woven basket originally held water. Similarly, this Grueby Company vase was shaped from wet clay and then fired in a kiln. Firing removed all traces of water from the clay, hardening the vase so it could be used as a container for fresh flowers. Both artists created beautiful and functional vessels for holding water.

From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

ARTH 17, The Power of Place: Urban and Rural Images in American Art, 1900-1945, Sarah Powers, Winter 2014

ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022

GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Art History 40.01, American Art and Identity, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023

Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023

Geography 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Emma Colven, Fall 2023

Geography 2.01, Introduction to Human Geography, Coleen Fox, Fall 2023

Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023

English 30.01, African and African American Studies 34.01, Early Black American LIterature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2024

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Exhibition History

American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 9-December 9, 2007.

Grueby Pottery, A New England Arts and Crafts Venture: The William Curry Collection, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 2-September 18, 1994

Grueby, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, March 21-May 31, 1981; Jordan-Volpe Gallery, New York, New York, June 16-July 31, 1981, no. 1.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 2, 2009-present.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 15, 1999-May 8, 2007.

Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-November 24, 2024.

This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–July 22, 2022.

Publication History

Susan J. Montgomery," Grueby Pottery", Boston: Antiques America.com, 2000, ill. p. 1

Susan J. Montgomery, William P. Curry, "Grueby Pottery, A New England Arts and Crafts Venture: The William Curry Collection", Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1994, ill. p. 20, Plate 4

Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Muesum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007, p. 231, no. 203.

Barbara J. MacAdam, Building on Dartmouth's Historic American Collections: Hood Museum of Art Acquisitions since 1985, The Magazine Antiques, November 2007, New York: Brant Publications, color ill. p. 150.

Ronald A. Kuchta and Robert W. Glasberg, Grueby. Syracuse: The verson Museum of Art of Syracuse aned Onondaga County, 1981, ill. cover.

Provenance

William P. Curry, New York, New York, by 1981; given to present collection, 1986.

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