About this artwork
Carl Walter’s Whale was inspired by the artist’s interest in the arresting blue color of many Egyptian ceramics. The artist recalled, “I just couldn’t get that blue out of my head. I dreamed about it, talked about it, and finally I set out to discover how I could reproduce it.” After years of research and experimentation, Walters landed on a formula and firing technique that satisfied him, using it to create a wild menagerie of animals including this lively whale. Here, Walters used the vibrant glaze as the background to dense aquatic surface decoration, a reference to the leviathan’s oceanic home.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 271
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Carl Walters
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Title
- Whale
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1927
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Medium
- Glazed earthenware
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Inscriptions
- Signed and inscribed bottom, middle, incised under glaze: "[square in circle] / Walters / 19 [squiggle line continuing to left of horse head] 27 / [artist's horse head insignia]”.
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Dimensions
- 19.7 × 42.6 × 19.7 cm (7 3/4 × 16 3/4 × 7 3/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Jane and Morris Weeden and Wesley M. Dixon Jr. endowment funds; Arts of the Americas Discretionary Fund
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Reference Number
- 2022.243
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.