Designed by Edward Kemeys (American, 1843–1907) Made by Joseph Green Ottawa, Illinois
About this artwork
In addition to both small- and large-scale bronze sculptures—most notably, the lions flanking the Art Institute’s Michigan Avenue entrance—Edward Kemeys created utilitarian vessels such as this ceramic pitcher. Produced by the potter Joseph Green and sold at Burley and Company in Chicago, the pitcher features four heads of Native Americans similar to those Kemeys sculpted for the lobby of Chicago’s Marquette Building. While the artist employed a geometric decoration reminiscent of Native American basketry, the pitcher’s form is not based on an actual vessel.
Date
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Judith A. Barter, Window on the West: Chicago and the Art of the New Frontier 1890-1940, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New York and Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills Press, 2003), 50–51, cat. 54, fig. 4 (ill.).
Judith A. Barter, et. al. Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Nov. 7, 2009–Jan. 31, 2010, cat. 76.
Art Institute of Chicago, Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago, Nov. 7, 2009–Jan. 31, 2010, cat. 76.
With The Stradlings, New York, by 2001; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.
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