John Bennett
"White Dogwood" Vase

ArtistEnglish, 1840–1907, active United States
CultureEnglish
Titles
  • "White Dogwood" Vase
Date1882
PlaceNew York, United States
MediumEarthenware
DimensionsOverall: 12 × 7 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (30.5 × 18.4 × 18.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Museum Guild in honor of its thirtieth anniversary, and by the Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in appreciation of thirty years of service by the Guild
Object number2009.6
Non exposé

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Object Type
Description

The work of English potter John Bennett was a highlight of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The pieces shown there were such a triumph that by 1877 he had left England and set up his own shop in New York City. Bennett's pots bloom with apple blossoms, magnolias, and lush dogwood flowers. Bennett had developed a technique in which he painted the flowers in first, then brushed on the surrounding color so that the backgrounds were not smooth and shaded, but often rather painterly with visible brushstrokes. Bennett was also a brilliant colorist who preserved his cadmium yellows, violets, and Persian reds under glazes that one commentator found “as beautiful as a soap-bubble in the air.” Bennett's work shows the influence of Orientalist sources as well as the Arts and Crafts floral patterns of his English contemporary William Morris.


 


Provenance[Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2009.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Written in blue paint/glaze on bottom: "JB[monogram]ENNETT" / "NEW YORK, / 1882"
Printed, in black ink, on bottom: "FArG 20085D"
Signed, in blue glaze on bottom: "JB[monogram]ENNETT"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1852
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E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1855
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Edwin Bennett Pottery Co.
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c. 1850–1856
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E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1855
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B.57.24