Toshiko Takaezu’s breathtaking ceramics lauded at Rago, April 13

Toshiko Takaezu, Moon, estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Courtesy of Rago/Wright/LAMA.
Toshiko Takaezu, Moon, estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Courtesy of Rago/Wright/LAMA.
Toshiko Takaezu, Moon, estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Courtesy of Rago/Wright/LAMA.

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – Rago, Wright, and LAMA present A Quiet Revolution: The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu on Thursday, April 13, featuring more than 60 works by the singular artist. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Dodie Thayer lettuce ware: the pick of the crop

A September 1972 Dodie Thayer lettuce ware tureen with lid and underplate realized $4,750 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Quinn’s Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers
A September 1972 Dodie Thayer lettuce ware tureen with lid and underplate realized $4,750 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Quinn’s Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers
A September 1972 Dodie Thayer lettuce ware tureen with lid and underplate realized $4,750 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Quinn’s Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers

NEW YORK – In most of the United States, Thanksgiving means gathering with friends and family, but in Palm Beach, Florida, it marks the arrival of high season. Well-heeled and well-connected members of the East Coast elite descend on the island to escape the ravages of winter through shopping, golfing, yachting, lounging, and appearing at gala charity balls. The approach of late November also prompts Palm Beach hostesses to dust off their Dodie Thayer lettuce ware services in anticipation of months of dinner parties and other intimate gatherings.

Thayer’s bright green ceramics command your attention and hold it. Unfurled leaves serve as plates; upright pieces with tightly arranged leaves, seemingly just starting to bud, make for salt and pepper shakers; and claiming the center of the table, as it should, is a tureen in the shape of a head of lettuce, with leaves peeling away from its heart. It is almost aggressively three-dimensional, and it is gorgeous.

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