Dish | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

item details

NameDish

ProductionPoole Pottery; potter; circa 1926; England
Truda Carter; designer; circa 1930; Dorset

Classificationdishes, pottery, ceramics

Materialsceramic, slip

Materials SummaryRed coloured earthenware covered in white slip, with hand painted decoration

Techniquesthrowing, painting, glazing

DimensionsOverall: 65mm (height), 340mm (diameter)

Registration NumberCG001860

Credit lineWalter C Cook Decorative Art Collection, Gift of Walter Cook, 1992

Overview

This bowl is a fine example of the art deco style as applied to ceramics. The bowl's decorator, Truda Carter, is a major figure in the early twentieth-century studio pottery movement, and is known for her skill and technical finesse as a ceramic designer and decorator.

Art deco style
The prancing deer was a popular art deco motif and was applied to a variety of media including metalwork, pressed glass, and textile design. This deer has been hand drawn directly to the bowl's surface of black ceramic glaze. Its elegant perfection illustrates the skill of Truda Carter as an artist. The brightly coloured flowers, some stylised beyond easy identification, are also hallmarks of art deco styling.

The Walter Cook Collection
This bowl is from the Walter C Cook Collection of Decorative Arts. Over a twenty-five year period, Wellington collector Walter Cook developed a significant collection of British and European decorative arts. In 1993 he gave his collection to the National Museum, now known as Te Papa.