Vase

Frederick E. Walrath

ca. 1908–15 · Earthenware · The American Wing

Frederick Walrath was among the first students at the newly-established ceramics program at Alfred University, where he studied with Charles Ferguson Binns from 1901 to 1904. He taught for a couple of years at the University of Chicago’s School of Education, but he returned to his home in Rochester, New York, to look after his father, and soon set up his own pottery there. He also joined the faculty at the Mechanics Institute in Rochester (late the Rochester Institute of Technology), where he taught modeling and pottery. He developed some highly successful colored and textured matte glazes, and even experimented with crystalline glazes. This type of English-inspired design epitomizes Walrath’s mature style. The design also recalls the design teachings of Arthur Wesley Dow in the stencil-like abstraction of the flowers and the delicately harmonized muted colors of the glazes. Walrath’s promising career, however, was cut short by an early death after operating his independent pottery for only about a decade and a half.

Artist

Frederick E. Walrath

Date

ca. 1908–15

Medium

Earthenware

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Martin Eidelberg, 2020