Several years ago, I had the opportunity to visit an exhibition of ceramics since at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in KC, MO called Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Ceramics, 1950-2000, which was drawn from the LACMA collection of ceramics. I actually saw it twice and bought the catalog, which is high marks from a jaded, museum-employed art person. I felt the work presented truly sparked the imagination and addressed the ever-present question artists working in traditional craft media must address: form or function?
David Regan, b. 1964
Deer Tureen, 1996
Porcelain
The most amazing thing I saw was a tureen shaped like a deer giving birth. It was enormous (could have easily served forty people) and decorated with intricate woodland details including a snake winding its way around the under plate. The application of the design implied a context beyond the elegant form, setting the work apart from the merely functional. I imagined serving tomato soup from the tureen. I imagined serving pea soup in the tureen. I imagined having the tureen on my dining table and getting to look at it everyday.
Since then, I have been on the search for a tureen. I knew I would never find a giant one shaped like a deer giving birth at the thrift store, but I thought I would eventually find one that really said something. A tureen that made a statement. And this weekend, I found exactly what I had been looking for: a vintage, 1975 Fitz and Floyd tureen shaped like giant fish. With green eyes.
Just in time for fall. Come to dinner, I'm serving soup!
David Regan, b. 1964Deer Tureen, 1996
Porcelain
The most amazing thing I saw was a tureen shaped like a deer giving birth. It was enormous (could have easily served forty people) and decorated with intricate woodland details including a snake winding its way around the under plate. The application of the design implied a context beyond the elegant form, setting the work apart from the merely functional. I imagined serving tomato soup from the tureen. I imagined serving pea soup in the tureen. I imagined having the tureen on my dining table and getting to look at it everyday.
Since then, I have been on the search for a tureen. I knew I would never find a giant one shaped like a deer giving birth at the thrift store, but I thought I would eventually find one that really said something. A tureen that made a statement. And this weekend, I found exactly what I had been looking for: a vintage, 1975 Fitz and Floyd tureen shaped like giant fish. With green eyes.Just in time for fall. Come to dinner, I'm serving soup!