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Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah Pottery
August 7 - November 13, 2011
Stanton Thomas, Ph.D.Curator of European and Decorative Art
This exhibition is located in the Baroque gallery
Presenting Sponsor: Humanities Tennessee
Exhibition Sponsors: The Knapp Foundation Douglas W. Ferris Jr. and The Decorative Arts Trust
This project is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Around 1900, Walter B. Stephen (1876–1961) began experimenting with colored clays he found in Nonconnah Creek near Memphis. Although untrained, the artist was soon producing matte-glazed pottery with floral and scenic decorations of thinned clay known as “slip.” Stephen’s early work, such as his Vase with Poppy Decoration (ca.1900) is of surprising quality, delicacy, and beauty.
After the death of his parents in 1910, Stephen moved his operation to the Pisgah Forest, near Asheville, North Carolina. He continued production of slip-decorated ceramics, although he often simplifed his designs and color schemes to reflect a more modernist feeling. Stephen also expanded his oeuvre to include figural works, hand-painted vessels, wares with molded decoration, and pots with sculpted surfaces. Among his most memorable sculptures is a three-faced bust that was probably produced for a Masonic organization (see page 3). Its boldly simple forms and mesmerizing stare mark it as a unique masterpiece of American folk art.
No less noteworthy are the Pisgah Forest “cameo” ceramics that Stephen decorated with molded white clay. These are remarkable for their variety of decoration, ranging from scenes of frontier life based upon childhood memories to Biblical themes or scenes from the ancient world.
Stephen was also drawn to Asian ceramics, eventually experimenting with Eastern forms and techniques. This interest led to his perfection of a lustrous turquoise glaze and craquelure finishes. Perhaps most memorably, Stephen produced vessels with sparkling, almost metallic surfaces—his famous “crystalline” ceramics. Their glimmering surfaces and rich coloring reflect a career marked by a lifelong interest in learning, innovation, and craftsmanship.
This exhibition brings together over 70 rare examples of Stephen’s work—ceramics that rank among the most innovative, imaginative, and beautiful in the history of American craft. Spanning his oeuvre from the late Victorian and Arts and Crafts eras to the sleek abstraction of the modern period, the exhibition offers a fascinating look at an important but largely undiscovered master ceramicist.
Download Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah Pottery press release.
Walter Stephen, American, 1876-1961,
Vase, 1935,
earthenware with crystalline glaze,
Private Collection
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