Sotheby’s Robin Cawdron-Stewart admits to a particular admiration for James Tower (1919-1988) who he believes was “perhaps the most influential figure” in blurring the lines between ‘fine art’ and creations in clay.
“His name is widely celebrated within ceramic circles but he is nowhere near as well-known as he deserves to be outside of this tightly-knit group of enthusiasts and aficionados,” says Cawdron-Stewart.
Looking at Tower’s earthenware Ribbed Chest Form, which he sold at the September 18 sale, he adds: “He is just so cool”. The 20in (51cm) tall, signed and dated 84 piece, was estimated at £6000-8000 and took a hammer £19,000.
Tower fans who couldn’t stretch to that kind of money may yet admire the piece – it has been requested for inclusion in a retrospective marking the centenary of the potter’s birth at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath next year.
He is nowhere near as well-known as he deserves to be outside of this tightly-knit group of enthusiasts
‘Ahead of its time’
At Christie’s, Post-War and Contemporary Art head Leonie Mir has assembled a galaxy of star names for the dedicated ceramics sale ‘Un/Breakable’ on October 2 – but she takes particular pleasure in one of the lower estimated pieces. This is the 79in (18cm) tall glazed earthenware vase, stamped Geo E Ohr and estimated at £6000-8000.
It was made around 1900 by George Ohr (1857-1918) at his studio in Biloxi, Mississippi. “He created a prolific, diverse body of work that was astonishingly ahead of its time,” says Mir.
A glazed earthenware vase, stamped ‘Geo E Ohr’ – estimated at £6000-8000 at Christie’s.
Ohr died in relative poverty and obscurity but he always believed that “when I am gone, my work will be praised, honoured, and cherished. It will come”.
And so it has. Some critics regard his ‘mud babies’ as a precursor to the American Abstract-Expressionism movement and there are collectors in Europe as well as in the US.
