Sqaure In Circle Studio
Late 20th Century American Modern Vases
Ceramic
People Also Browsed
Mid-20th Century Japanese Showa Ceramics
Stoneware
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Vases
Stoneware
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Earthenware
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Vases
Stoneware
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
20th Century American Modern Decorative Bowls
Ceramic
20th Century Japanese Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Pottery
Pottery
Vintage 1980s American Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
Mid-20th Century American Ceramics
Pottery
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Ceramic
Antique 17th Century Japanese Japonisme Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jars
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jars
Ceramic
2010s Japanese Organic Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Warren MacKenzie for sale on 1stDibs
Warren MacKenzie is recognized as a true master of 20th-century ceramic art. Through his traditional wheel-thrown vessels, hIs pottery embodies strong influences from Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. His work consistently represents the confidence of where the potter’s hand is felt and touched through the utilitarian pots that are produced for use in everyday life. Among other numerous awards, MacKenzie was named a Regent’s Professor, a fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics, and was the first to receive the Minnesota Governor’s Award in Crafts in 1986. In 1997, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Crafts Council and in 1998 was honored with the Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council. His work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; The National Folk Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England; Contemporary American Crafts Museum in New York; Bernard Leach Study Collection in Bath, England, the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul and the Weisman Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minneapolis.
A Close Look at Modern Furniture
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
Finding the Right vases for You
Whether it’s a Chinese Han dynasty glazed ceramic wine vessel, a work of Murano glass or a hand-painted Scandinavian modern stoneware piece, a fine vase brings a piece of history into your space as much as it adds a sophisticated dynamic.
Like sculptures or paintings, antique and vintage vases are considered works of fine art. Once offered as tributes to ancient rulers, vases continue to be gifted to heads of state today. Over time, decorative porcelain vases have become family heirlooms to be displayed prominently in our homes — loved pieces treasured from generation to generation.
The functional value of vases is well known. They were traditionally utilized as vessels for carrying dry goods or liquids, so some have handles and feature an opening at the top (where they flare back out). While artists have explored wildly sculptural alternatives over time, the most conventional vase shape is characterized by a bulbous base and a body with shoulders where the form curves inward.
Owing to their intrinsic functionality, vases are quite possibly versatile in ways few other art forms can match. They’re typically taller than they are wide. Some have a neck that offers height and is ideal for the stems of cut flowers. To pair with your mid-century modern decor, the right vase will be an elegant receptacle for leafy snake plants on your teak dining table, or, in the case of welcoming guests on your doorstep, a large ceramic floor vase for long tree branches or sticks — perhaps one crafted in the Art Nouveau style — works wonders.
Interior designers include vases of every type, size and style in their projects — be the canvas indoors or outdoors — often introducing a splash of color and a range of textures to an entryway or merely calling attention to nature’s asymmetries by bringing more organically shaped decorative objects into a home.
On 1stDibs, you can browse our collection of vases by material, including ceramic, glass, porcelain and more. Sizes range from tiny bud vases to massive statement pieces and every size in between.