A rare and unusual ceramic vase Charles Counts, ca' 1960's. Comprising of an abstract figure sliced and becoming two forms-a simple and visually striking effect.
A quick note about the artist:
Charles Counts (1934–2000) was an American potter, designer, textile artist, quilter, teacher, writer, and activist. Counts worked to preserve the art forms of his native Appalachia, and later moved to Nigeria where he taught until his death.
Early life and education
Counts was born in Lynch, Kentucky. Charles' ancestors were some of the early pioneering settlers of Russell County, Virginia, descending from John & Mary Counts of Glade Hollow, VA 1789. His parents were Arthur Richard Counts and Erma Colley Counts. He moved with his parents to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1944. Counts graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1952 and graduated from Berea College, Kentucky. Since 1893 Berea College has supported traditional Appalachian crafts and maintained workshops that teach technique and produce craft items. Students have the opportunity to study art, learn traditional skills and earn their tuition. Counts earned a master's degree in pottery and weaving at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 1957, and then studied under Bauhaus-trained master potter, Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm in Guerneville, California. He also did advanced work in ceramic technology at the University of Southern California under Carlton Ball and Susan Peterson.
Early career
After two years in the U. S. Army, Counts returned to the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area in 1959 and opened a pottery at Beaver Ridge. In 1963 Counts moved his operation to Lookout Mountain, Georgia. A small artist's colony had sprung up at the New Salem Community near Rising Fawn, Georgia. The arts community provided a focal point for collectors and contributed to the economic success of the artists and crafts people living in the area. An annual event, the Plum Nelly Clothesline Crafts Fair, was organized at Rising Fawn by a print maker within the artist's community. Charles Counts received federal funding for an apprentice ceramics program for local people at their studio, The Pottery Shop. This community involvement led to a collaboration with a group of local traditional quilt makers, The Rising Fawn Quilters. Historians have posited that ceramics and weaving along with the Back-To-The-Land Movement of the 60s and 70s had a profound influence on the development of the studio art quilt.
Height: 12.75 in (32.39 cm) Width: 8.5 in (21.59 cm) Depth: 6 in (15.24 cm)
Wear consistent with age and use. very good vintage condition, from an estate in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
