Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Vase

A work made of stoneware with wood-ash glaze.

Image actions

  • A work made of stoneware with wood-ash glaze.

Date:

c. 1940

Artist:

Maija Grotell
American, born Finland, 1899–1973

About this artwork

Finnish-born Maija Grotell was a pioneering figure in elevating work in clay as fine art. In 1938 Grotell was hired to teach ceramics at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she built an artistic practice throwing forms on a potter’s wheel that she then imaginatively decorated using layers of slip and glaze. “I always have something I am aiming at,” said Grotell, “and I keep on … I do not sketch on paper, I sketch in clay.” This luminous, tactile vessel shows the range of textural effects that she achieved in her work.

Status

On View, Gallery 265

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Maija Grotell

Title

Vase

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1940

Medium

Stoneware with wood-ash glaze

Inscriptions

inscribed on bottom: "MG"

Dimensions

19.4 × 20.3 × 9.8 cm (7 5/8 × 8 × 3 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Atlan Ceramic Club Fund

Reference Number

1946.278

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions