Sister Act: Overbeck Pottery

Stylized pinecones on this 5 3/4-inch vase are typical of the naturalistic decorations found on Overbeck pottery. This nice example sold for $7,475 at Treadway Toomey’s June 2007 auction.

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Overbeck Pottery’ custom_title_size=’48’ custom_content_size=’20’ caption_pos=’caption_center’ link_apply=” link=’lightbox’ link_target=” button_label=” button_color=’light’ link1=’manually,http://’ link_target1=” button_label2=” button_color2=’light’ link2=’manually,http://’ link_target2=” font_color=’custom’ custom_title=’#ffffff’ custom_content=’#ededed’ overlay_enable=’aviaTBaviaTBoverlay_enable’ overlay_opacity=’0.1′ overlay_color=’#444444′ overlay_pattern=” overlay_custom_pattern=”]
BY TOM HOEPF
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A classic example of Overbeck pottery. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey Galleries.

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Overbeck pottery commands such a high price at auction, since so few important pieces come on the market.

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Working from their modest home in east-central Indiana, this family of artists produced a relatively small, but highly regarded, amount of art pottery in the first quarter of the 20th century.

“Their production of quote-unquote important pieces is rather low in the scheme of things. Yet in spite of that, they have gained a very good name in Arts & Crafts circles. After all, it is really close to as pure an Arts & Crafts pottery as there is because basically it’s all made by hand,” said Don Treadway of Treadway Toomey Galleries. His company regularly sells Overbeck pottery at its auctions in Chicago and Cincinnati, but seldom more than several pieces per year.

“If you wanted to go out and buy or build a large collection of important pieces of Overbeck, it would be very difficult. A large collection would be a dozen pieces,” said Treadway, adding, “In terms of really fine examples, it’s in limited supply.”

Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.
Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.

Misfortune certainly played a hand in the dearth of Overbeck pottery. Margaret, the second-eldest of the six Overbeck sisters, died at age 49 in 1911, the year she and three siblings founded Overbeck Pottery. Margaret attended Cincinnati Art Academy in the 1890s, later studied under Arthur Dow of Columbia University and spent a summer working at a Zanesville pottery works. She taught art at several private schools and finally at DePauw University. She returned home after being injured in an auto accident in 1910 and died the following year.

Hanna Overbeck, who attended Cincinnati Art Academy and Indiana State University, is considered the ultimate designer of the family. Between 1903 and 1916 many of her sketches were published in Keramic Studio, a leading journal for china painters. She taught art in public schools before returning home in poor health. Plagued by severe neuritis, she continued to design for the pottery. She died in 1931 at the age of 61.

The Overbecks were commissioned in 1920 to make this 9 1/8-inch black vase as a gift to a woman celebrating her 18th birthday. Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Galleries.
The Overbecks were commissioned in 1920 to make this 9 1/8-inch black vase as a gift to a woman celebrating her 18th birthday. Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Galleries.

Elizabeth Overbeck became the ultimate potter after studying at the New York State School of Clay Working and Ceramics under noted ceramicist Charles F. Binns. She taught, lectured and exhibited widely, bringing considerable recognition to the pottery. Chiefly the potter and technician, she did little designing or decorating. Elizabeth died in 1936.

The youngest Overbeck sister, Mary Frances, was considered the jack-of-all-trades. She designed bookplates, sculpted and painted in addition to creating pottery. Working alone after the death of Elizabeth, she concentrated on sculpting pottery figures. Mary Frances died in 1955.

Two other sisters, Ida and Harriet, and a brother, Charles, rounded out the family. Ida, the eldest and only Overbeck sister to marry, operated a photography studio in Cambridge City. Harriet was an accomplished musician who gave private lessons and maintained the Overbeck household for many years.

An abstract landscape of houses is the subject matter on this unusual bowl. Measuring 5 inches in diameter, the bowl has the impressed OBK mark on the bottom. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.
An abstract landscape of houses is the subject matter on this unusual bowl. Measuring 5 inches in diameter, the bowl has the impressed OBK mark on the bottom. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.

Two principles that guided the Overbecks from start to finish were that all borrowed art, such as motifs and designs from Europe and Japan, was dead art; and all good applied design is original.

Treadway said the Overbecks are best known for their incised and painted matte pottery, and noted that collectors want vases that command a presence on a shelf, specifically “anything that is multicolored—the more colors the better. Nine times out of 10 it’s going to be incised. Many times it’s going to have a geometric feel to it, whether it’s organic or figural. That’s inherent to their pottery,” he said.

While Rookwood and Newcomb produced lines of painted matte pottery, theirs differed in theme and subject matter, said Treadway. “When you see a piece of Overbeck you normally don’t have to pick it up and look at the bottom for a signature. The artwork, the way it was produced, the coloration and many times the shape; it all just screams Overbeck,” he said.

Large Overbeck vases are especially desirable. This 14 1/2-inch vase is decorated with a carved and painted design of red stylized fuchsia and is signed with the artists’ initials E and H. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.
Large Overbeck vases are especially desirable. This 14 1/2-inch vase is decorated with a carved and painted design of red stylized fuchsia and is signed with the artists’ initials E and H. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.

“Overbeck is a specific type of work and there are few companies that produced that look. The Overbecks were very good at what they did. It was a small output, but they did it very well,” said Treadway. Because of the Overbecks’ limited output, Treadway said some collectors are content to own a single example of their work.

“Anyone who wants a well-rounded collection, whether it’s American art pottery or Arts & Crafts pottery, and has the pocketbook to match that taste, really should have a piece of Overbeck. That said, I cannot emphasize how hard it is to find the right piece. It’s something that does not come along every day,” said Treadway.

Prices for choice Overbeck pottery regularly range from several thousand dollars to more than $20,000. “The highest prices have been paid just recently, but the really good pieces have not been cheap for a long time,” said Treadway.

Crafting items that were functional was also important to the Overbecks. For every large vase they made, they produced many more tea sets, all of which were handmade.

An early example of the Overbecks' Arts & Crafts style, this 14 1/4-inch vase sold for $67,850 at Cincinnati Art Galleries in June of 2007, at that time an auction record for an Overbeck piece with a floral motif. Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Galleries.
An early example of the Overbecks’ Arts & Crafts style, this 14 1/4-inch vase sold for $67,850 at Cincinnati Art Galleries in June of 2007, at that time an auction record for an Overbeck piece with a floral motif. Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Galleries.

“There’s that old bugaboo that utilitarian things taking a back seat to the strictly artistic. A vase is always going to be more exciting to collectors than a teapot,” said Riley Humler, art pottery specialist at Cincinnati Art Galleries, which sold a 14 1/2-inch Overbeck vase at its Keramics 2007 auction in June for $67,850.

Humler said the Overbecks’ most popular pottery was made in the Arts & Crafts period prior to 1920. “Then they began to do some things that are a bit more Art Deco, which I like but the Arts & Crafts people aren’t as enamored with,” he said.

The Overbeck mystique and the scarcity of their work make the pottery all the more popular today. “There couldn’t have been a huge output, particularly early on. Rarity has an impact. I think the whole story of the six sisters, four of whom were involved with the production of the pottery, is a factor. Here in this tiny town in Indiana with a tiny facility these women produced some amazing stuff in a true studio pottery setting.” said Humler. “Rookwood made some truly incredible pottery with a whole raft of workers, artisans, chemists and technical people. At the same time the Overbeck sisters made some amazing things in a backyard setting.”

Even small Overbeck pots like this 2 1/2-inch vase are held in high esteem when the look is right. Decorated with a carved and painted floral design in a tan and mauve glaze, this little vessel sold at auction in May 2006 for $5,750. Courtesy Treadway Toomey Galleries.
Even small Overbeck pots like this 2 1/2-inch vase are held in high esteem when the look is right. Decorated with a carved and painted floral design in a tan and mauve glaze, this little vessel sold at auction in May 2006 for $5,750. Courtesy Treadway Toomey Galleries.

Even without the support of professional ceramists and the best equipment, the Overbecks managed to create art pottery that holds up fairly well technically to their contemporaries. “Artistically in many cases it’s superb, but from a technical point of view it may not be as good as some of the things Grueby and Teco produced in terms of consistency, “ said Humler.

Even the Overbecks’ functional pieces are scarce because the sisters held steadfast to the Arts & Crafts creed of producing only handmade wares. They declined offers from major department stores to mass-produce their wares.

“Ayers and Marshall Field tried to get them to take orders, but they didn’t want to have to do anything that had to be done on time. They were just artists. They were not in the production business whatsoever,” said Phyllis Worl of the Overbeck Museum in Cambridge City.

Stylized pinecones on this 5 3/4-inch vase are typical of the cialist at Cincinnati Art Galleries, which sold naturalistic decorations found on Overbeck pottery. This nice example sold for $7,475 at Treadway Toomey’s June 2007 auction.
Stylized pinecones on this 5 3/4-inch vase are typical of the cialist at Cincinnati Art Galleries, which sold naturalistic decorations found on Overbeck pottery. This nice
example sold for $7,475 at Treadway Toomey’s June 2007 auction.

However, the Overbecks often took orders from individual customers. “We have a piece in our November sale that was a present for a girl’s 18th birthday. It was a commission. They went to the Overbecks’ house and said here’s what we want. Can you make it?” said Humler.

Worl said the Overbecks were accommodating to customers and visitors. “When you went there, they offered you a cup of tea. They had beautiful manners and were very ladylike,” she said. Worl scoffed at the notion there was anything odd or unnatural about five unmarried sisters living under one roof. “I could see how they could live together. They got along because they were artists. They were a team. In those days a woman couldn’t get married, raise a family and still have a career,” she said.

“They were extremely talented and left the world a lot of beautiful things to prove it,” said Worl.

Cloaked women are carved on the sides of this 6 1/2-inch blue matte vase. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.
Cloaked women are carved on the sides of this 6 1/2-inch blue matte vase. Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.

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Profile: Peter Max

Peter Max, Love, 1968, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

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BY KARLA KLEIN ALBERTSON
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Detail of Peter Max, Sailing New Worlds, 1976, Lithograph; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

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Over his life, Peter Max has used his art to create a transcendent world on the other side of reality.

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Peter Max in his studio in the 1960s. Courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
Peter Max in his studio in the 1960s. Courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

From the cosmic imagery that first brought him to national attention in the 1960s to his more abstract “neo-Fauvist” paintings of today, his work is filled with dynamic color and buoyant expectation. More than just feel-good vibes, his art lifts the spirit to a plane above the everyday.

Max’s art is rooted in a variety of influences that began with an unconventional childhood. Born in Berlin in 1937, he traveled shortly thereafter with his parents to pre-Maoist Shanghai, where he spent the first 10 years of his life. In a June interview, the artist recalled, “We lived in a pagoda house, and across the street was a Sikh temple. Living in the Orient put me in touch visually with lots of colors – red and gold everywhere.”

A slightly older child who babysat for the family supplied art materials to amuse the young boy. Max said, “Every day she pulled out sheets of paper; I started drawing and painting with brushes. I fell in love with the juxtaposition of certain colors. I learned how to combine and pair them. But I never thought that art was something you do when you grow up. You ride a bicycle but you don’t become a professional bike rider.”

Peter Max, Love, 1968, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
Peter Max, Love, 1968, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

A chance trip with his parents to a region near Tibet brought him closer to the stars, both physically and spiritually. “I’m now living on top of this huge mountain and painting and drawing there,” explained Max. “Another guest in the hotel – an old white-haired man – said he was making an antenna for his radio. He was an astronomer.”

“We talked about the planets, the stars, the universe every day. Years later, it’s still an enormous passion of mine. When I got older, I wanted to become an astronomer.” Twenty years after those conversations, the artist would combine his love of color and fascination with the cosmos into successful graphics that secured his reputation.

After an odyssey of travel – Africa, Italy, Israel, France – the family arrived in New York in 1953, where Max still considered becoming an astronomer because as he put it, “I wanted to know everything about the universe. Why was the universe created, how did the Big Bang happen, how far is really far?”

Peter Max, Tip Toe Floating, 1972, serigraph; courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
Peter Max, Tip Toe Floating, 1972, serigraph; courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

His career took a different direction when a summer session at the Art Students League led to years of intense study at the institution. His early focus was grounded in reality rather than fantasy. He said, “I just wanted to become the best realist that ever was. I was going to be an artist, but I didn’t even know how I was going to make a living. But I was good at it and I loved doing it.”

The Art of Peter Max (Abrams 2002), with text by CUNY professor Charles A. Riley II, includes several pictures from the artist’s realist period. Life Study of Old Man and Cowboy, both muted oil paintings from 1959, demonstrate what an excellent realist Max could be in his early twenties. But the young artist found that – with the dominance of photography – art directors were not buying his realism.

During an interview, one potential buyer spotted some “astronomical doodles of the planets” that had ended up with more serious work in Max’s portfolio. Interest in the artist’s more casual alternative work led to a proliferation of projects that drew Max into the pop poster business. The mature style – romantic, playful, and often psychedelic – that Max had fully developed by around 1966 was perfectly in sync with the spirit of the times. To quote him, “Everybody thought these posters were the backdrop of the Sixties.”

Author Charles Riley in his biographical text to The Art of Peter Max wrote:

“Max understood that art reproductions were rising to the status of the original artwork and began to incorporate this notion into his art. The medium of the moment was the poster, owing in no small part to the work of Max himself. He became a pioneer in the printing techniques by which inexpensive yet high-quality posters could be produced in an unprecedented range and intensity of colors, utilizing state-of-the art commercial presses that expanded the spectrum of available hues.”

Riley concluded, “Just as Toulouse-Lautrec captured the imagination of late 19-century Paris with his posters, Max led the international youth movement of the Sixties into a new visual culture.” Classic images that nurtured the Baby Boom Generation include Max’s 1967 Bob Dylan poster, the singer’s photographic image surrounded by a floral aura; the single word Love with a flowing head above from 1968, and the 1968 image of A Different Drummer, surrounded by stars.

Peter Max, Knowledge Bliss Absolute, 1971, serigraph; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
Peter Max, Knowledge Bliss Absolute, 1971, serigraph; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

Commercial success brought the genial Peter Max fame in a Johnny Carson/Life magazine sense. An association with Swami Satchidananda, which began in 1966, brought the artist greater inner peace and led to some sublime images of that state, such as the 1971 serigraphs Experiencing Nothing and Knowledge Bliss Absolute.

Max can tell some great stories. One of the best involves an encounter with Jimi Hendrix that occurred when Max was renting a house in Woodstock to give his family some time away from the city. Max said, “One morning my little daughter was wearing a blue jean jacket, the waist dragging on the floor, because she was tiny. Suddenly somebody knocks on the door and it was Jimi Hendrix.”

The jacket, of course, turned out to be one that Hendrix had left on a previous visit – he let the artist’s daughter keep her treasure. And Max recalled, “He hung around for a hour talking. I told him about art; he told me about music. He was a sweet guy, a nice guy with lots of enthusiasm.”

Peter Max, Sailing New Worlds, 1976, Lithograph; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
Peter Max, Sailing New Worlds, 1976, Lithograph; image
courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

Peter Max’s bold early works from the 1960s and ’70s remain popular with collectors, who are in a very real sense buying back part of their youth. Robert Rogal, Director of the Ro Gallery in Long Island City, N.Y., and a Boomer himself, told Style Century Magazine, “We’ve been handling his work for the last 30 years. I think the older work is more important and more popular than the current work. It’s probably a moment in time – that’s why I prefer the vintage work. It’s not only true with him; it’s true with all artists. Even with recording artists, you always remember their first song.”
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there was an enormous change happening to us here in this country, and it felt like it was the whole planet. It’s still going on.”’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote classic-quote’ size=’44’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’10’ padding=’5′ color=’custom-color-heading’ custom_font=’#050505′]
there was an enormous change happening to us here in this country, and it felt like it was the whole planet. It’s still going on.”’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote classic-quote’ size=’44’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’10’ padding=’5′ color=’custom-color-heading’ custom_font=’#020202′]
there was an enormous change happening to us here in this country, and it felt like it was the whole planet. It’s still going on.”’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote classic-quote’ size=’44’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=’custom-color-heading’ custom_font=’#020202′]
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Since first achieving recognition, Peter Max has never lost touch with his creativity. On the one hand, he has expressed an inner artistic vision through a long series of vibrant abstract acrylics that are just as colorful as his early work. Riley explained in his text, “Max calls himself a neo-Fauvist, identifying himself with the French painters of the turn of the 20th century who were called fauves (wild beasts) for their dramatic use of color.”

On many occasions, Max has created art in support of favorite causes. For the 1974 International Exposition on the Environment in Spokane, Washington, he designed this memorable “running man” stamp for the United States Postal Service. Image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
On many occasions, Max has created art in support of favorite causes. For the 1974 International Exposition on the Environment in Spokane, Washington, he designed this memorable “running man” stamp for the United States Postal Service. Image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.

On the other, Max continues to produce art connected with pop culture phenomena and posters for projects dear to his heart, such as global ecology, equal rights, animal protection, and peace. His ongoing interest in space led to a series of images commemorating the Apollo moon landings. His “Preserve the Environment” postage stamp of 1974 anticipated today’s concern for global climate conditions.

In 1986, Max began a continuing series of studies of the Statue of Liberty, with a special set of six in 2001 to benefit 9/11 organizations. He has designed images for musical events from Woodstock to the Grammys. And he has found time to work with a long list of American Presidents and world leaders on positive initiatives that support the values that took root in his consciousness back in the Sixties.

At the conclusion of the interview, Peter Max said, “It was nice to belong to something so colossal. There was an enormous change happening to us here in this country, and it felt like it was the whole planet. It’s still going on.”

More of Max’s biography and an online shop of vintage and new works can be found at www.petermax.com.
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karlakleinalbertsonAbout Karla Klein Albertson

Karla Klein Albertson focuses on the decorative arts, from excavated antiquities to contemporary pop-culture icons. She currently writes the Ceramics Collector column and exhibition features for Auction Central News, covers shows and auctions for the Maine Antique Digest, and authors the Antiques column in The Philadelphia Inquirer. She holds a master’s degree in classical archaeology from Bryn Mawr College.
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Peter Max, Profile, 1996, acrylic on canvas; image courtesy The Art of Peter Max, Abrams, New York.
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