Product Description

Pottery was for the patio, porcelain for the dinner table until the kilns of California began mass-producing and distributing imaginative, brightly colored tableware in the late 1920s. Today, the inventive forms and playful shapes of Calfironia pottery make it a much sought-after and highly prized collectible. Published to coincide with an exhitibiton at SF MOMA, California Pottery is the ultimate guide to the cultural forces and talented designers that shaped this movement. Their work includes not only the dishware we have come to associate with Calfornia, but also garden and agricultural pottery and iconic decorative tiles. Each piece reflects the falvor of the times--from the sober Arts and Crafts style of the '20s right through to the aerodynamic Modernist styles of the '50s. With beautiful photographs featuring hundreds of unique pieces, California Pottery: From Missions to Modernism is an exquisite gallery showcasing the beauty and originality of California pottery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #585290 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 108 pages

Review
Some of the most colorful mass-market ceramics of the 1930s-50s originated in California, where a mix of cultural forces contributed to imaginative new designs in dinnerware and decorative accessories. "California Pottery," a must-have resource for collectors of these exuberant wares, traces the rise of the regional industry from the Arts and Crafts era through mid-century Modern and beyond. The book includes information on prominent designers, reproductions of pottery marks and more than 150 color photos. Author and longtime collector Bill Stern also addresses the question of lead content and provides common-sense advice on enjoying vintage dinnerware safely (use dishes for serving, not for food storage, and don't put pottery in the microwave).-Chicago Tribune

About the Author
Bill Stern is the executive director of the Los Angeles-based Museum of California Design. He also writes for many magazines and newspapers and is an avid collector of California pottery.

Peter Brenner is the supervising photographer at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His work has appeared in several books and numerous publications.

Customer Reviews

A Colorful look at California Pottery
This colorful and enjoyable book makes a strong case for the importance of California's commercial potteries in drawing on the state's unique cultural heritage to introduce dramatic new colors and styles to the United States. The book is easy to read and filled with interesting facts, with beautiful color photos on almost every page. I was fascinated by pictures of pottery from the 30's, side-by-side with the handmade folk pottery on which the designs werte based. This is a must for any serious pottery collector! Note that the book parallels an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The author, Bill Stern, was the curator for that exhbition.