Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8

Frank Mann Modernist Vase, Early American Studio Pottery 1950s-1960s

About the Item

Mid Century Modern ceramic vase features abstract graphic design in alternating brown and black shapes on mottled off-white background. The bold, but organic decor complements the hourglass form of the vase, with the widest parts of rhomboid shapes accenting the narrow "waist" of the piece. Minimal and expressive color palette allows the geometric decor to take central stage in the composition. The vase is signed on the bottom by the artist in writing (MANN), suggesting that it's the earlier example of this design; some of the later pieces were signed with the black stamp. Frank C. Mann (1921-1986) was a renowned American ceramic artist, based in Vermont. In 1949 he was recruited by Aileen Osborn Webb, founder of the American Craft Council, to teach pottery in Shelburne Craft School. Aileen Webb, a potter in her own right, donated funding for Shelburne to establish a pottery studio with a kiln; she also brought graduates from the School for American Crafts, the school she founded with support of Rochester Institute of Technology, to Shelburne Craft School to teach. Along with Mann, John Lance and Doris Holzinger Moss were invited to teach woodworking and weaving. In 1963, while still working at Shelburne, Mann developed a line of pottery called Mann Stoneware, sold nationwide. Mann was represented by multiple galleries. His work can be found in E. John Bullard Collection in New Orleans Museum of Art; the remarkable collection of American studio ceramics by Bullard, who directed NOMA from 1973 until 2010 and in his retirement has committed to build a comprehensive survey collection of studio ceramics as a promised gift to the museum, includes works from important American ceramic artists, such as Marguerite Wildenhain, Laura Andreson, and Peter Voulkos.
  • Creator:
    Frank Mann (Maker)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)Diameter: 4 in (10.16 cm)
  • Style:
    Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1950s-1960s
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Clifton Springs, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU4421143766802

More From This Seller

View All
Jasba Vase, West German Pottery 1950s-1960s
By Jasba
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Mid Century Modern ceramic vase features an abstract motif in Burgundy red glaze, sponged on in free-flowing patterns and outlined with gold, on light green background. The decor ap...
Category

Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic, Majolica, Pottery

Bitossi Studio Pottery Lava Glaze Vase Pitcher Italy 1960s
By Bitossi
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Bitossi Studio Pottery vase or pitcher is a beautiful example of Italian mid-century modern art ceramics. It is decorated in bold abstract pattern using gloss, semi-matte, and lava g...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic, Majolica, Pottery

Carl Erickson Sculptural Vase, American Art Studio Glass 1940s-1950s
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Sculptural, heavy Mid Century Modern clear glass decorative vase or vessel was created by Carl Erickson for Erickson Glass Works. The vase is decorated with controlled bubbles that are radiating upwards from its base; asymmetrical, free-flowing rim juxtaposes the regular bubble's pattern, guiding the eye along the lines of the piece. The vase is signed by the artist in etching on the bottom; it is in good vintage condition with slight, age-appropriate signs of use on the bottom. This piece will work very well in any style of interior or would make a great gift for an art and design enthusiast. Carl Erickson (1899-1966) worked at Pairpoint Manufacturing Company, joining his father as an apprentice and spending the next 20 years developing a high level of craftsmanship, including precision use of controlled bubbles, a technique often associated with Pairpoint, that was widely used by Erickson in his own glass designs. In the early 1930s he was employed by Libbey Glass and from 1937 - by the Blenko Glass Company. After leaving Blenko, Carl founded his own art glass studio in Bremen, Ohio in 1943. Erickson glass was hand blown, so no two pieces could be identical. Erickson made reproductions for a number of museums, including the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C., Old Sturbridge Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass, and the Ohio State Historical Society Museum. Many of his glass creations have been selected for display at several distinguished museums, and in 1953 a traveling display...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Art Glass

Carl Erickson Sommerso Vase, American Art Studio Glass 1940s-1950s
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Sculptural Mid Century Modern teal and clear glass decorative vase was created by Carl Erickson for Erickson Glass Works. The vase has Erickson's typical heavy encased glass design, with the teal glass gather encased in clear glass in sommerso technique and the pronounced base done in clear glass with controlled bubbles. The pontil is ground. The vase is in good vintage condition with some age-appropriate signs of wear on the bottom. It is unsigned, as vast majority of Ericson piece were, and is missing its sticker, but can be clearly identified by multiple printed and online catalogues and other resources. Carl Erickson (1899-1966) worked at Pairpoint Manufacturing Company, joining his father as an apprentice and spending the next 20 years developing a high level of craftsmanship, including precision use of controlled bubbles, a technique often associated with Pairpoint, that was widely used by Erickson in his own glass designs. In the early 1930s he was employed by Libbey Glass and from 1937 - by the Blenko Glass Company. After leaving Blenko, Carl founded his own art glass studio in Bremen, Ohio in 1943. Erickson glass was hand blown, so no two pieces could be identical. Erickson made reproductions for a number of museums, including the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C., Old Sturbridge Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass, and the Ohio State Historical Society Museum. Many of his glass creations have been selected for display at several distinguished museums, and in 1953 a traveling...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Blown Glass, Glass, Art Glass, Sommerso

Lee Levy Multi Spouted Vase, American Studio Pottery
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Vintage ceramic bud vase features sculptural multi spouted shape and stunning textured drip glaze in earthy, organic brown palette. The gradation glaze color and abstract graphic pattern of the main decor emphasize the soft, rounded shape of the vase; the use of shades of brown, from dark espresso to mocha to off-shite cappuccino, creates rich and varied, but monochromatic palette that does not overpower the complex form and shape of the vase. The vase is signed on the bottom with LEE, that was Lee Levy customary signature; it is not dated, but the style of the piece is consistent with her Mid-Century Modern pieces created in 1960s-1970s. Leah "Lee" Levy (1922 - 2011) was an established pottery artist based in Upstate New York area. She was born in Pinsk, formerly in Poland, now in Belarus, and moved to the United States in 1929, growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts. She and her husband Irving started their first pottery studio in Long Island, New York, in late 1940s, while training at the Alfred University School of Ceramics alongside with some of the foremost artists and craftsman in America. Since 1946, Alfred University in Alfred, New York was a home for School for American Craftsmen, with the faculty that included Edwin Blanchard Brown, Ernest Frank Brace, Laurits Eichner, Philip Morton, Charles Reese, Ethel Mitchell, Robert Savage, Thomas Mclure, and most importantly for Levy, the renowned ceramists Linn Phelan and Herbert Sanders...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Organic Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic, Pottery, Stoneware

Doezema Bud Vase, American Studio Art Pottery, 1970s
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Striking vintage art pottery bud vase features Organic Modern decor in pink, plum, and brown glaze on soft pale pink background. The porcelain or ceramic vase is hand-sculpted in coi...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Organic Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic, Porcelain

You May Also Like

Mid-Century Studio Pottery Vase from Frank Keramik, 1960s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Mid-Century Danish Studio Pottery Vase from Frank Keramik, 1960s, in Very Good conditions. Designed 1960 to 1969 This piece has an attribution mark. Add...
Category

20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic

Mid-Century Danish Studio Pottery Vase from Frank Keramik, 1960s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Mid-Century Danish Studio Pottery Vase from Frank Keramik, 1960s, in Very Good conditions. Designed 1960 to 1969 This piece has an attribution mark. Add...
Category

20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic

Freeform Studio Pottery Vase, 1960s
Located in Tilburg, NL
Freeform studio pottery vase 1960s. This is a very distinct midcentury Studio Pottery vase with a slender freeform aesthetic. The dark brown vase ha...
Category

Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Stoneware

Painterly Glazed Studio Pottery Vase, 1960s
Located in Tilburg, NL
Painterly Glazed studio pottery vase. Mid-20th century. This is a beautiful little vase which is painterly decorated. A joy to look at and a fun piece on your desk, cabinet or tab...
Category

Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Stoneware, Pottery

Midcentury German Studio Pottery Vase, 1960s
By Jasba
Located in Tilburg, NL
Midcentury German Studio Pottery vase 1960s. This is a very distinct midcentury German Studio Pottery vase with an interesting abstract and sc...
Category

Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Ceramic

1960s Artisan Studio Pottery Clay Vase
Located in Miami, FL
1960s Handcrafted clay studio pottery. Beautiful artisan piece that adds a nice touch of character to your credenza, bookshelf or pedestal.
Category

Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vases

Materials

Clay

Recently Viewed

View All