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Covered Jar
Covered Jar

Covered Jar

Date1940s or 1950s
Maker Paul Bonifas Swiss (active in France and the United States), 1893 - 1967
Label TextAn Offering: Vessels and Votives in Contemporary Ceramics Shaping humble clay into transcendent forms fit for the divine is a tradition as old as ceramics themselves. Drawing inspiration from the ancient vernacular of forms and techniques, contemporary artists work with clay to create sculpture that, to our eyes, is both instinctively familiar and unexpectedly fresh. In the first half of the twentieth century, Paul Bonifas relied on classical forms to achieve modern design. He believed in a limited canon of “perfect” forms, defined in the ancient past, a philosophy which materializes in his work in the 1940s and 1950s. Embellished by modeled faces and figures, Covered Jar refers to a ceramic tradition practiced in Persia (Iran) 5,000 years ago.
Object number66.131
Credit LineGift of Otto Seligman
DimensionsDiameter.: 8 1/8 in.
MediumCeramic
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
Paul Bonifas
1917
Object number: 59.168
Paul Bonifas
1959
Object number: 82.181
Humidor
Paul Bonifas
1951
Object number: 59.124
Vase
Paul Bonifas
1925-30
Object number: 64.91
The Hard-Boiled Self-Righteous
Paul Bonifas
1955-56
Object number: 59.162
Covered Jar
Thai
14th-15th century
Object number: 92.82.72
Covered Jar
Thai
14th-15th century
Object number: 92.82.88
Famille Rose covered jar
Chinese
1736-1795
Object number: 43.102
Stoneware vase
Paul Soldner
1966
Object number: 82.178
Covered box
Thai
14th-15th century
Object number: 92.82.10