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Paul Soldner, Pot, ca. 1958, glazed stoneware, 21 3⁄4 x 20 3⁄4 in. (55.3 x 52.7 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Hermine and Lloyd Beck, 1991.175.5
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Pot
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1958
- Location
- Dimensions
- 21 3⁄4 x 20 3⁄4 in. (55.3 x 52.7 cm) diam.
- Credit Line
- Gift of Hermine and Lloyd Beck
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- glazed stoneware
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 1991.175.5
Artwork Description
Paul Soldner turns our expectations of beauty and function upside down by inverting the body of this pot on its short pedestal. By leaving a tiny square opening at the “top” of the piece (which used to be the “bottom”), the artist makes his pot perfectly useless. But Soldner carved out the graceful outlines of irregularly shaped leaves to make his pot beautiful, and if he had not turned the pot on its head, the viewer would not see the leaves clearly.