Vase

J.T. Abernathy studied ceramics with Maija Grotell at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Graduating in 1952 with a thesis focusing on the technology of kiln-building, Abernathy set up a ceramics studio in Ann Arbor where he mentored generations of Michigan ceramicists through the Ann Arbor Potter’s Guild. The influence of Grotell’s pedagogy is clear in Abernathy’s early works, which feature sculptural monumental forms with heavily defined throwing lines. In an oral history conducted three months after Abernathy’s 100th birthday, he recalled the power of Grotell’s presence in the studio, describing the artist as “half rhinoceros, half panzer tank!”

This sculptural vessel is an unusual form in Abernathy’s oeuvre, with a speckled glaze that dates it to an early period in his career. The underside of the form is marked with the notation “B3-2 I-V” showing an experimental combination of glaze and clay body. Abernathy kept meticulous notebooks of glaze formulas; a scientific approach motivated by his interest in technology. This method is summed up in Abernathy’s statement that in pottery, “the engineering and the art are only one percentage point from each other.”

Nina Blomfield
2021-2023 Decorative Arts Trust Marie Zimmermann Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
June 2023