Plate (1780–1820): Artwork and History
Plate at the Art Institute of Chicago: date, artist attribution, materials and the museum's explanation of the work.
Plate (1780–1820) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Artist unknown (American, 18th–19th century) Pennsylvania German.
The work and its context
The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:
Unlike the Art Institute's plate by Rudolph Drach (see 1907.122) on which the maker inscribed his name, many objects in the Pennsylvania German tradition are unmarked, obscuring authorship for subsequent generations. Creamy white slip (which appears yellow due to the lead glaze on top of it) was applied to the surface of this plate, onto which sgraffito decoration was incised. The addition of lightly applied copper oxide created green accents across the plate. Pennsylvania German vessels are further characterized by bold designs of tulips, stars, and hearts. This octagonal plate incorporates another tradition motif—the stylized pomegranate.
Object facts
- Title: Plate
- Date: 1780–1820
- Artist attribution: Artist unknown (American, 18th–19th century) Pennsylvania German
- Place of origin: Pennsylvania
- Medium: Earthenware
- Dimensions: 3.2 × 23.5 cm (1 1/4 × 9 1/4 in.)
- Type: Ceramics
- Department: Arts of the Americas
- Reference number: 1923.313
Collection credit
Atlan Ceramic Club Fund
View the original
Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.
The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.
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