Ferrin Contemporary Collection selections in the Library, Drawing, & Parlor Rooms of the Wickham House at the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA, 2024
FEBRUARY 20, 2024 – APRIL 21, 2024
FEATURED IN OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?
Rockwell Kent | Vernon Kilns “Our America” Plates
The modernist artist was among those involved in promoting a nationalistic spirit, stemming in part from his efforts against the spread of fascism in Europe. His concern with promoting American ideals extended to designs he provided in the late 1930s for three different sets of dinnerware, all produced by the California pottery of Vernon Kiln. For Kent and others, this was also another way of democratizing his art.
Made By Vernon Kilns | Plates
Hidden in plain sight, illustrations on porcelain and ceramic ware have, throughout history, transformed functional objects into message-bearers for a wide range of political and propagandistic causes, whether exchanged by heads of state or acquired for use or display in domestic settings.
Figurines & Objects | Made in Occupied Japan
Figurines & Objects | Made in Occupied Japan
“Occupied Japan” (OJ) is a term used for the time period from 1945 (after World War II) through April 25, 1952; it was during this time that the Allies “occupied” Japan.
https://gotheborg.com/qa/oj.shtml
One of the most fascinating lines of objects to come out of Occupied Japan were objects made to capture the interest and pocketbooks of the GI’s stationed there. This is an area that is collected by those who do collect Occupied Japan material, and it features tobacco-related trinkets, because GI’s tended to smoke.
So we find lighters made of tin with erotic images, and little wooden birds made to hold pipes. Ash trays with all kinds of scenes were also popular, and for a few bucks a GI could collect souvenirs to take home. And boy, did they take these things home — in droves.
Rowland & Marsellus & Co. 1492 Pitchers
Rowland & Marsellus & Co. 1492 Pitchers
Amherst College Plates | Syracuse | Walker China
Amherst College salad or appetizer plate, sometimes referred to as the “Fleeing Indians” pattern and notated made by Walker China. It depicts British Army officer Baron Jeffrey Amherst on horseback, chasing native Americans through pine forests during the French and Indian War.
Souvenir & Transferware Plates | Regional Content
Pair of plates, Rowland and Marsellus Company, Staffordshire, England, 1906. Whiteware. D. 10″. One plate has a transfer-printed portrait of Pocahontas as the central motif, the other has John Smith, both with surrounding cartouches. The legend of the Pocahontas plate includes both her given name, Matoaka, and the one she received after baptism, “Rebecka” or Rebecca. Produced for the S. T. Hanger Company of Portsmouth, Virginia.
RESOURCES & COLLECTIONS
More than 40 years ago, an artist friend pointed out the differences between a polychrome (lots of colors) transfer printed souvenir plate and others that were monochrome (one color). The artist, Miriam Kaye, was known for the reuse of images from history in her own work, along with reclaimed material collage. I don’t recall the image on the plate but I do remember her introduction to the subtle variations of surface, under and over glaze, printed imagery, and the quality of the plates themselves. Depending on the time period when they were produced, each decade built upon a prior narrative to commemorate idealized versions of historic events, portraits of “founders,” man-made monuments and the buildings built, some named for and intended to honor this history. These plates were created as souvenirs with clues to their origins on the backs of plates through merchant stamps, or maker’s marks, and sometimes additional narratives with lengthy written text. This information, further emphasized by titles and relationships with the visual imagery, was quite literally whitewashed of any human struggle that came before, during, or after. Some commemorated foot soldiers who fought for independence, others were generals and represent what we now view as white supremacy by glorifying slave owners and the Confederacy.
These images were created and put on plates using illustrations, sometimes copies of well-known paintings and entered popular culture as countless multiples. They used powerful stereotypes and caricatures, added to historical fictions and resonate today as we consider how we came to believe what we do.
— Leslie Ferrin, Director & Collector
READ MORE ABOUT THE COLLECTION • HERE •
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS
From the mid-70’s on, I collected, was given and sent more than 100 plates, figurines, and small objects in glass and ceramics. This started casually. Like others of my generation who hunted and gathered vintage materials, we sought cultural objects that reminded us of a past that many of us never actually experienced but for which were nostalgic without fully understanding the depth of that past. We saw the irony and displayed these objects in our homes, naive and unaware of their toxic power to continue the original message conveyed and widely distributed through commercial reproduction.
Vaseline Glass Tomahawk, Arrowhead, Toothpick Holder
green vaseline glass
varying sizes
year N/A
Aunt Jemima Syrup Bottle
year n/a
glass
10 x 3.5”
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
Aunt Jemima Syrup Bottle White Face
year n/a
glass, paint
8.5 x 3”
Uncle Remus and Little Boy Created by the Federal Art Project, Works Progress Administration
1935-1936
Ceramic sculpture (Ohio clay mixed with 25% flint)
5.5 x 4”
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
PRODUCED BY VERNON KILNS
Hidden in plain sight, illustrations on porcelain and ceramic ware have, throughout history, transformed functional objects into message-bearers for a wide range of political and propagandistic causes, whether exchanged by heads of state or acquired for use or display in domestic settings.
Our America: Southern Plantation
Vernon Kilns “Our America”, bread and butter plate with Southern Plantation, designed by Rockwell Kent, plate design by Gale Turnbull, Manfucturer, Vernon Kilns
c. 1940-1943
transfer printed earthenware, glaze
7.5 x 7.5 x 0.75”
Manhattan Vernon Kilns “Our America” Rockwell Kent (Brown)
transfer printed earthenware, glaze
10.5 x 10.5 x 1”
Chicago Red Vernon Kilns “Our America” Rockwell Kent dinner plate
transfer printed earthenware, glaze
9.5 x 9.5 x 1”
Hoover Dam Vernon Kilns “Our America” Rockwell Kent (Brown)
transfer printed earthenware, glaze
14 x 14 x 1”
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
“SOUVENIR” PLATES & TRANSFERWARE
At first, most of the souvenir plates I purchased were produced by English potteries like Johnson Brothers and Rowland & Marsellus who operated in the early 1900s, commissioned by merchants to offer for sale to tourists at the sites depicted. The plates I purchased showed monuments and architecture flanked by their namesakes, generals and politicians; scenes copied from famous paintings such as the landing of Europeans – Roger Williams, Henry Hudson; portraits such as Pocahontas/Matoaka depicted as an Englishwoman copied from an engraving by Simon van de Passe; geographically significant landscapes tamed by Europeans such as Plymouth Rock with 1620 carved into it and Mount Rushmore with the faces of the founders, Niagra Falls now accessible by boat and generating electricity. These images are about American identity which led me to seek out others, plates and figurines made in America and Occupied Japan drawn as I was to how they represented and portrayed race, positions in society, and through popular culture continue to infuse tropes, maintain stereotypes and deliver messages “hidden in plain site.”
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN
“Tiny Indians” Made in Occupied Japan
1945-1952
ceramic
varying dimensions
Vintage Mohawk Trail, Mass. Souvenir Hand Painted Made In Post War Japan
1945-1952
ceramic
7.5” radius
Laundry, Black Child Ashtray Made in Occupied Japan
1945-1952
ceramic
Made in Occupied Japan (Black Child, Watermelon, Chamberpot)
1945-1952
cast porcelain, glaze
Made in Japan (Male and Female Native Americans Figurines)
1945-1952
cast porcelain, glaze,
Woman: 4.25 x 2 x 1.25” , Man: 4.25 x 2 x 1.25”
Collection of Leslie Ferrin/Ferrin Contemporary
CONTEMPORARY WORKS
Paul Scott
Paul Scott is a Cumbrian based artist with a diverse practice and an international reputation.Creating individual pieces that blur the boundaries between fine art, craft and design, he is well known for research into printed vitreous surfaces, as well as his characteristic blue and white artworks in glazed ceramic.
Garth Johnson
Garth Johnson’s works celebrate the history of ceramic objects and their ability to convey status. He often juxtaposes common vessel forms like plastic containers and soap bottles with gold or silver handles taken from fine silver coffee and teapots.
Sheila Bridges
Named America’s Best Interior Designer by Time magazine and CNN, Sheila Bridges is considered a creative visionary and design tastemaker. Residing and working in Harlem for more than 25 years, Bridges is recognized for her classic yet versatile design aesthetic and critical eye. She is sought after to create thoughtfully inspired and narrative rich interiors because of her profound sensitivity and appreciation of timeless design and quality craftsmanship.
Elizabeth Alexander
On her series, A Mightier Work is Ahead – I have been collecting Confederate commemorative plates since 2016 in response to the rise in white supremacist pride in contemporary culture. I imagine these objects as Trojan horses hanging innocently among family photos. These plates were printed long after the Civil War with romantic illustrations, and created for people to hang in their homes, to pass dangerous values down to future generations aided by collectable marketing.
HISTORICAL COLLECTION FEATURED IN MUSEUMS & GALLERIES
Ferrin Contemporary “Our America/Whose America?” Library Installation at the Wickham House, Richmond, VA, 2024
OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?
2024 | Group Exhibition in the Wickham House at the Valentine Museum | Richmond, VA
February 20, 2024 – April 21, 2024
Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.
Imprinted: Illustrating Race, installation, 2022, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
IMPRINTED: ILLUSTRATING RACE
2022 | Exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum | Stockbridge, MA
June 11, 2022 – October 30, 2022
Imprinted: Illustrating Race examined the role of published images in shaping attitudes toward race and culture. Over 300 artworks and objects were on view of widely circulated illustrated imagery, produced from the late eighteenth century to today, which have an impact on public perception about race in the United States. The exhibition explored stereotypical racial representations that have been imprinted upon us through the mass publication of images. It culminated with the creative accomplishments of contemporary artists and publishers who have shifted the cultural narrative through the creation of positive, inclusive imagery emphasizing full agency and equity for all.
Our America/Whose America? Installation View, 2022
OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?
2022 | Group Exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary | North Adams, MA
Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.
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