Esoteric Survey

I picked this bell up from my good buddy Steve ( ayersfan ) at Downtown Modernism this past weekend. It has a Freeman Lederman label.  I picked this one up from Dean ( dacvintagela ) from the spring Downtown Modernism. He happens to be good pals with Steve and I think Dean is OK with me as well : ) Then there's the owl, which is much more common than the bells. I've had at least a few of them over the years. They were all offered by Freeman Lederman. Most things distributed by Freeman Lederman were designed by LaGardo Tackett or Kenji Fujita. However, they also sold many things that weren't. This includes traditional Japanese craft imports. The bell collection has always been a curious thing. I was convinced they weren't be Tackett or Fujita.  It turns out I was right. They were designed by Pat Lopez. I was familiar with her name because I've seen an ad for some hanging pots she designed for Freeman Lederman. I  posted about them here  in 2011.   She design...

David Cressey Solar design on a Pro Artisan John Follis planter Two unknowns in the back and a beautiful Amy Donaldson in the front.  Here's that Amy Donaldson from the top Don Jennings from the OC.  I'm a sucker for fish plates. Deco

  This past weekend AMOCA hosted a Panel discussion as part of the  Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape exhibition. It was a packed house. Someone from the museum said it was the most people they've had for an event like this. The first panel included three people who were personally connected to the Architectural Pottery.  Jo Lauria on the far left curated the exhibition and moderated the talk. To her right is Lee Whitten, then Marilyn Kay Austin in the middle and Damon Lawrence is on the right. Lee Whitten earned a master's degree in 1964 at UCLA under Laura Andreson and Bernie Kester. His first job in ceramics was at Architectural Pottery working under David Cressey. He was recommended to David by Andreson. This photo is a planter Cressey let Lee buy for $1.50, his hourly wage at the time. Lee said he liked the process of pushing the clay out from the interior of the form. Earth Cells were another favorite of his.  Although he was only at ...

I went to Palm Springs Modernism and mostly bought Japanese things. I did get a John Follis and some paper too.

  ARCHITECTURAL POTTERY  BOOK SIGNING EVENT JF CHEN showroom in Los Angeles.  November 9, 2024 4-6pm In addition to getting your book signed, JF Chen has enough AP in his showroom to do his own exhibition. This is even after he loaned a bunch to the AMOCA exhibition . See you there.  

Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape Curated by Jo Lauria, at AMOCA Jo, Dan Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, Gary Wexler and the AMOCA team put together a wonderful exhibition. Displaying this many pots is not an easy undertaking. The wall graphics and photos are great as well. It all started with La Gardo Tackett in 1949.  Tackett assigned his students at the California School of Art to create forms for modern homes. They held an exhibition of their work at a Evans & Reeves nursery, where Max and Rita (pictured with Tackett above) Lawrence saw the work. In 1950, the Lawrences partnered with two of the students, John Follis and Rex Goode, on a company they named Architectural Pottery.   LaGardo Tackett with a group of his designed Totems; Photo: George Szanik, 1957 Courtesy of Monacelli Press from the accompanying book, Architectural Pottery Ceramics for a Modern Landscape.   by Daniel Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, and Jo Lauria From the collection of JF C...