Plate

ca. 1969

American, born 1937

An 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.

Realistically painted or sculpted food was an indispensible part of both Sumerian and Egyptian beliefs and rituals. The image of food or other offerings would nourish gods or the deceased in perpetuity. Fred Bauer’s Plate revisits this custom centuries later.

Earthenware with glaze

Diam.: 17 1/2 in., 22 in with silverware hanging off

Gift of Jim Manolides

76.15

Not currently on view

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