POTTERY
F
rans Wildenhain did not sign every piece
of pottery he crafted, Bruce Austin says.
“Based upon my experience, though, most
were signed,” he adds. “The only two signatures
on pots are ‘FW’ or his last name. Some larger
pieces have his first name—not many, though.
‘FW’ and his last name are most typical, with
the ‘FW’ used more often.”
Is one signature earlier than the other?
“One cannot date a pot by the signature used,”
Austin says. “I know of early pieces signed
with the conjoined ‘FW’ and later pieces with
his last named spelled out. I know of virtually
no pieces where he placed a date on them.
So, the two signatures, I suppose, were used
interchangeably.”
Here’s a look at the most common
Frans Wildenhain signature.
ARCHEOLOGICAL
FANTASIES
R
uth Duckworth’s (1919–2009) unglazed
white porcelain would never be mistaken
for Frans Wildenhain’s pottery creations, but
their clay murals showed remarkable similarities. Both were German-born modernists who
favored abstractions derived from nature and
pioneered the large earth-tone mural. “Nature
is very sexy,” Duckworth once said in an interview. Her masterpiece was Clouds Over Lake
Michigan (1976), a 24-foot abstract map of
water, hills, shoreline and clouds as seen from
above.
Master
of
Surprise
Keep your eyes open for Mid-Century
Modern pottery by the other
Wildenhain.
By Pete Prunkl
N
othing banishes obscurity more
thoroughly than having your
name on a dust jacket. Artists
who are the subjects of books attract
fans, collectors, and good auction prices. Professor Bruce Austin of Rochester
Institute of Technology (RIT) thinks
he’s found the right person for the next
book-driven revival. He’s betting on
Frans Wildenhain (1905–1980).
“In my judgment, Frans’ work is currently underrated and under-appreciated,” says Austin, author of a new book
on the Mid-Century Modern potter and
muralist. (See “Sources & Resources.”)
“For collectors, this means it is affordable. One can still purchase a great Frans
piece for well under $1,000.”
For much of his life, Frans Wilden­
hain played second fiddle to his wife of
22 years, Marguerite Wildenhain (1896–
1985). Their popularity polarization
began early in their relationship. She was
his classmate at the Bauhaus in Weimer,
Germany, and then his teacher at the
State School of Applied Art in Halle,
REDUCTION FIRING
W
ildenhain liked what depriving a kiln of
oxygen did to his glazes. Potters as far
back as the ancient Chinese learned that
glaze color and consistency can change dramatically in a reduced atmosphere. Copper,
for instance, turns a crimson-purple; glazes
loaded with iron become fluid and runny. But
timing is critical. Oxygen is typically reduced
only in the final stage of firing. The Chinese
used wet wood for fuel during the reduction
phase. A kiln is in reduction when yellow or
orange flames shoot from its vents and
peep holes. —P.P.
8
At 20 inches, this reduction-fired earthenware vessel was one of the taller objects
in the Rochester Institute of Technology
exhibition curated by Bruce Austin.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW INSIDER
Photos courtesy of A. Sue Weisler
SIGNATURE FRANS
This photo of a 10¼ x 10¼-inch
reduction-fired Frans Wildenhain
stoneware bottle was used for the
frontispiece of Bruce Austin’s book.
Germany. She became a Master Potter in
1926, an honor he did not receive until
1929. Although both became important
artists in the United States, it’s Marguerite
who was the star.
RISING CRAFTSMAN
Frans Wildenhain taught at RIT from
1950 to 1970. There he was among the
new faculty at the School for American
Craftsman after it moved from Alfred
University in 1949. Wildenhain was overdue for an exhibition at RIT. That idea
was accelerated in 2010 when Robert
Bradley Johnson, an early collector of
Frans’ pottery, donated 330 pieces to
RIT. That gift provided Austin with the
basis for a 2012 exhibition and an illustrated 256-page exhibition catalog.
Johnson practically cornered the
market on Frans Wildenhain pottery.
“Bob collected steadily, enthusiastically, and voraciously for more than a
quarter of a century,” Austin says. His
North Carolina-based Pete Prunkl, a frequent
contributor to Insider, covered
the Knoxville and Richmond
Antiques Roadshow events in
our September, October, and
November issues.
DECEMBER 2013
Photo courtesy of Rochester Institute of Technology Archives Collection
Photo courtesy of A. Sue Weisler
Left: Here’s a look at one of Frans Wildenhain’s many reduction-fired knobby pieces
(17½ x 8¾ inches). Above: This photo from 1955 shows Professor Wildenhain (center)
teaching his students at Rochester Institute of Technology.
covered by the local press. Reviewers
regarded the shop as combination gallery and elegant apartment. And when
the founders received artistic awards,
their clientele grew.
By the 1970s, the suburbs and
Interstate highways had isolated Shop
One’s downtown neighborhood from
its customers. The shop moved, confronted enormous overhead, faltered,
and finally closed in 1976. Shop One left
an enormous legacy. It broadened the
Photos (2) courtesy of A. Sue Weisler
favorite store was Shop One, the retail
shop Wildenhain and three other RIT
profs established in Rochester in 1953.
At parties, Johnson wrote in the exhibition catalog, “Frans would introduce me
to everyone as the person who allowed
him to put a roof on his house.” Johnson
thought that Wildenhain’s knobby and
horned pottery was “spooky” and he collected it for one reason: “I liked it.”
Shop One was no ordinary store.
In the United States in the early 1950s,
handcrafted wares were available only
at America House in New York City
and Shop One. Establishing a business
that sold only handcrafted pottery, silver,
painting, metalware, furniture, and jewelry was a gutsy—but not highly profitable—move.
Within a few years, though, associate
artists were recruited to the exclusive
shop. Openings became gala occasions
Frans Wildenhain’s version of the classic lidded teapot
features an exaggerated looping handle in reduction-fired
stoneware. This pieces measures 5½ x 9½ x 6½ inches.
DECEMBER 2013
Photos (2) courtesy of Rago Auctions, Lambertville, NJ
Above left: A cow, sheep, birds,
farmer, maiden, and a stylized
barn decorate this 4¾ x 6½inch stoneware bowl. Above right: This 6¼ x 5½-inch
bulbous stoneware bud vase in olive drip glaze over
mirrored auburn sold for $400 at Rago Auctions in 2012.
Rago Auctions sold this 17½ x 16-inch blue, amber, and white hemispherical
ridged stoneware bowl as part of a two-piece lot for $1,440 in 2006.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW INSIDER
9
marketplace for crafts and served as an
international model for similar ventures.
During Wildenhain’s tenure at the School for American
Craftsman, he encouraged his
students to be experimentalists, but only after they learned
the “old school” fundamentals.
“Wildenhain often told his
students, first you learn how
to do things my way, then you
learn how to express yourself,”
Austin says.
AN ERA CAPTURED
In his pottery, Frans captured
the spirit of the times in 1950s
ceramics—a period rich in
curves, color, abstract design,
simplicity, utility, earth tones, and individual creativity. He also experimented
with geometrics and sculptural works, but the majority
of his pots looked functional
and served a purpose.
But no matter how ordinary, Wilden­hain’s pottery
always included a surprise,
Austin says. “Marguerite
Wildenhain’s work is always
perfect and perfectly executed.
With Frans’ [work], there is
always an element of catching
me unaware.
“Compared with other
F
rans Wildenhain was among the first
mid-century ceramists to work in murals.
Many of these large works—some of them
more than 200 feet long—dealt with science
and medicine. Murals were the “perfect medium for Frans,” author and professor Bruce
Austin says. “He had an oversized canvas for
No other work in RIT’s 2012 Frans
Wildenhain exhibition remotely resembled
this 20 x 20 x 4-inch stoneware construction.
It emphasizes Wildenhain’s “wild” side.
mid-century studio potters,” Austin
adds, “Frans’ work stands up well.”
Yet he suffers from a lack of name
recognition. Few pottery collectors know
about Wildenhain because he shunned
the spotlight. He found attention from
reporters to be a bore, and wanted off
the publicity bandwagon. After the RIT
exhibition and Bruce Austin’s accompanying book, however, Frans Wildenhain
may finally be ready for his close-up. 
Left: This 17¼ x 4¼-inch Wildenhain stoneware totemic sculpture in matte pastel
glazes sold for $2,160 at Rago Auctions in April 2007. The base is incised “FW.”
ON THE LOOKOUT
ON THE WALL
Photos courtesy of A. Sue Weisler
Photo courtesy of Rago Auctions, Lambertville, NJ
Left: a 30½
x 50¼-inch
ceramic
triptych
modeled in
high relief with
elongated
figures,
covered in
green, blue
and brown
matte glazes,
and mounted
on wood. It
sold at Rago
Auctions
in 2007 for
$5,400.
an equally over-sized individual. He was a big
man with an imposing physical presence.”
The mural was one medium in which
Marguerite Wildenhain—his more famous
wife (and, after 22 years of marriage,
ex-wife)—never dabbled. “Murals clearly,
unambiguously, set them apart,” Austin says.
—Pete Prunkl
SOURCES & RESOURCES
BOOKS
• Frans Wildenhain 1950-75: Creative and
Commercial American Ceramics at MidCentury (pictured below), by Bruce A. Austin
(Bruce A. Austin, 2012)
• The History of American Ceramics, by
Elaine Levin (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,1988)
• The Invisible Core: A Potter’s Life and
Thoughts, by Marguerite Wildenhain (Pacific
Books Publishers, 1973)
Frans Wildenhain’s Allegory of a Landscape was installed at the entrance to Ingle
Auditorium at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1971. The 8 x 28-foot unglazed
clay mural represents an abstract aerial view of New York’s Finger Lakes.
10
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW INSIDER
DECEMBER 2013