Solids

Patanazzi Family (Urbino)
Wine Cooler
ca. 1580-1610
maiolica
(included in the Waddesdon Bequest)
British Museum

Anonymous Italian Artist
Martyrdom of St Ursula and her Virgins
17th century
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Miniature Head of Emperor Vitellius
ca. 1710-20
stoneware
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Roman Anton Boos
Hercules supporting the Earth for Atlas
ca. 1779
terracotta
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

Casali e Calegari (Pesaro)
Food Warmer
ca. 1780-90
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

William De Morgan
Oil Jug
ca. 1888-90
glazed earthenware
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Domenico Trentacoste
Portrait of actress Emma Gramatica
1900
terracotta relief
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Rookwood Pottery (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Vase
ca. 1910
glazed earthenware
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Fulper Pottery Company (Flemington, New Jersey)
Vase
ca. 1912
glazed earthenware
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Cesare Stea
Masque
1926
terracotta mounted on wooden base
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Margaret Ascencio
Vessel
ca. 1980
painted earthenware
Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin

Juan Hamilton
Untitled
1981
lacquered stoneware
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Andrea Gill
Vase
1982
glazed earthenware
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Michael and Melvin Crocker
Elvis Jug
1992
glazed earthenware
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Patti Warashina
Achilles' Baptism in the River Styx
1996
glazed earthenware
Tacoma Art Museum, Washington State

Simone Leigh
Jug
2022
stoneware
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

It is no gift I tender,

    A loan is all I can;

But do not scorn the lender;    

    Man gets no more from man.

Oh, mortal man may borrow

    What mortal man can lend;

And 'twill not end to-morrow,

    Though sure enough 'twill end. 

If death and time are stronger,

    A love may yet be strong;

The world will last for longer,

    But this will last for long.

– A.E. Housman (1936)

Solids

Gregorio di Lorenzo
(Master of the Marble Madonnas)
Portrait of a Young Woman
ca. 1460-70
stucco
Bode Museum, Berlin

Andrea della Robbia
St Ambrose
ca. 1490
glazed terracotta
Bode Museum, Berlin

Anonymous Italian Artist
Dish with Death of Nadab and Abihu
16th century
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anonymous French Artist after Odoardo Fialetti
Venus combing Cupid's Hair
ca. 1650
tin-glazed earthenware (faience)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Jacob Cressant
Portrait of silk merchant David van Mollem
1740
terracotta
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Roman Anton Boos
Hercules and the Erymanthean Boar
ca. 1779
terracotta
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

Joseph-Charles Marin
Bacchante carrying Child
ca. 1780-95
terracotta
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

Anonymous Italian Artist
Vase with Cover
18th century
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Staffordshire Potteries
Cachepot with Triton (detail)
19th century
glazed earthenware
Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Portrait of a Woman
ca. 1870-75
terracotta
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

Paul Gauguin
Vase
ca. 1887-88
painted stoneware
Art Institute of Chicago

Charles Francis Annesley Voysey
Panel of Six Tiles
ca. 1900
glazed earthenware
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Rookwood Pottery (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Tile
ca. 1905
glazed earthenware
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Betty Woodman
Vase
ca. 1989-90
glazed and painted earthenware
Phoenix Art Museum

Virgil Ortiz
St Bartholomew
2014
painted terracotta
Denver Art Museum

Koen Taselaar
Le monde entier est un cactus (Totem #1)
2016
partly-glazed earthenware and wood
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Look not in my eyes, for fear

    They mirror true the sight I see,

And there you find your face too clear

    And love it and be lost like me.

One the long nights through must lie

    Spent in star-defeated sighs,

But why should you as well as I

    Perish? gaze not in my eyes. 

– A.E. Housman (1896)

Solids

Ancient Greek Culture in Attica
Amphora with Foot Race
540 BC
glazed terracotta
Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund

Francisco Niculoso
Virgin and Child
ca. 1520-30
glazed ceramic tile
Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla

Anonymous Italian Potters
Plate with Winged Putto riding Sea Serpent
16th century
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anonymous Italian Potters
Dish with Bust of Warrior
16th century
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Tadolini Petronio
Allegorical Figure of Prudence
1767
painted terracotta
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

Clodion
Young Woman carrying a Child
ca. 1790-1800
terracotta
Harvard Art Museums

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Bust of a Nymph
ca, 1865-70
terracotta
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Watcombe Pottery (Torquay)
Japonesque Pitcher
ca. 1880
partly-glazed terracotta
Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island

William De Morgan
Vase with Mythical Beast
ca. 1882-88
glazed earthenware
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat
Inkwell
ca. 1890-1900
glazed stoneware in bronze mount
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Agathon Léonard
Ewer
1898
glazed earthenware with gilt-bronze mounts
Art Institute of Chicago

Van Briggle Pottery Company (Colorado Springs)
Vase
ca. 1920-40
glazed earthenware
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Vanessa Bell
Cup and Saucer
ca. 1932
glazed earthenware
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Paul Schreckengost for Gem Clay Forming Company (Ohio)
Teapot
1938
glazed earthenware body with platinum fittings
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Klytie Pate
High Diving
ca. 1950
glazed earthenware
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Errol Barnes (pottery) and Joe Furlonger (painting)
Bowl
1995
earthenware
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,

    There's men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,

The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,

    And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.

There's chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,

    And many to count are the stalwart and many the brave,

And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,

    And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.

I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tell

    The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;

And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell

    And watch them depart on the way that they will not return.

But now you may stare as you like and there's nothing to scan;

    And brushing your elbow unguessed at and not be told

They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man,

    The lads that will die in their glory and never be old. 

– A.E. Housman (1896)

Museum Porcelain

Derby Porcelain Factory
Armida and Rinaldo
ca. 1780
porcelain
Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island

Derby Porcelain Factory
Shepherd
ca. 1795
biscuit porcelain
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Lomonosov Porcelain Factory (Leningrad)
Woman with Hen
1937
porcelain
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Tureen with Sphinx-Head Handles
ca. 1810
porcelain
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Tea Bowl and Saucer
ca. 1735
porcelain
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Putto as Wig-Maker
ca. 1750-60
porcelain
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Kurt Weiser
Covered Jar
1995
glazed porcelain
Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin

Adrian Saxe
Mortar Bowl and Stand
1983
porcelain
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Veuve Perrin Manufactory (Marseille)
Urn
18th century
porcelain
Newport Mansions Preservation Society, Rhode Island

Gwyn Pigott
Pale Still Life with Teapot
2002
assemblage of porcelain
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Allegory of Fire
1747
porcelain
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Allegorical Figure of America
ca. 1800
porcelain
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Meissen Manufactory (Dresden)
Head of Karl Marx
ca. 1960
porcelain
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory
Potpourri
ca. 1765-70
porcelain
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Anonymous Chinese Potter
Ewer in form of Stylized Character for Shou
Qing Dynasty, 19th century
porcelain
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Stephen De Staebler
Seated Figure with Yellow Flame
1985
porcelain, stoneware and terracotta
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

John Flaxman for Josiah Wedgwood
Medallion Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks
1775
jasperware
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Josiah Wedgwood acknowledged when he invented his "jasperware" pottery that it was not true porcelain, but declared that nevertheless "it is my porcelain."

John Flaxman for Josiah Wedgwood
Grecian Ladies
ca. 1790
jasperware
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Others, I am not the first,

Have willed more mischief than they durst:

If in the breathless night I too

Shiver now, 'tis nothing new.

More than I, if truth were told,

Have stood and sweated hot and cold,

And through their reins in ice and fire

Fear contended with desire.

Agued once like me were they,

But I like them shall win my way

Lastly to the bed of mould

Where there's neither heat nor cold.

But from my grave across my brow

Plays no wind of healing now,

And fire and ice within me fight

Beneath the suffocating night. 

– A.E. Housman (1896)