Art Institute of Chicago

Bowl

Designed by Edward Middleton Manigault (American, born Canada, 1887–1922)

Date

1917

Medium

Porcelain with enamel

Culture

Trenton

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This rare surviving ceramic work by Edward Middleton Manigault represents the experimentation with different media by many American artists in the early 20th century. Although Manigault is best known for painting imaginative and boldly colored canvases, traumatic experiences as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I led to a dramatic change in his artistic output. In 1916 the artist set aside oil painting in favor of porcelain painting, a craft practice that was just beginning to take hold as therapy for soldiers and veterans. The bowl’s rich colors and overall pattern recall the brilliance of Persian ceramics while also showcasing Manigault’s painterly flourishes as colors bleed into one another and drip across the bowl’s surface.

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