Posted 11 years ago
vetraio50
(756 items)
DAVID GIL BENNINGTON CO-OP DISH
Some things are a little had to come across in Australia. American pottery is a case in point. But every once in a while you can find a piece. This is an item bought fifteen odd years ago here at the Rozelle Markets in Sydney. The Bennington name was something I’d come across years before in books but that was a totally different mottled ware. I went searching on the net but there was little information about this modernist ware. What did that mark mean?
It was only recently that I came across the mark again on the net. I had another look around on the net for David Gil (1922 – 2002) and the Bennington Collective. The topic had exploded into to something new. I went looking for the little dish and saw that it was described as a ‘trivet’. Oh dear, I thought: “Trivet?”
I discovered the ‘trivet’ while reorganizing some stuff that was headed for Vinnies. I loved the glaze and the turned lip. The dots of yellow, orange/red and blue glaze sit quite proud of the matt grey background glaze. I really don’t see this as a trivet. Nothing would sit steadily on the surface.
Then I came across a youtube interview with Gloria Gil and discovered a little more about the Bennington experiment. Gloria explained the meaning behind the impressed symbol: “A hand and a brain, we work with our hands and our minds.“ A mini-Bauhaus in Vermont: pottery, furniture, fabrics and design …… all with a Scandinavian modern twist. Cooperative Design. Set up in Benedict Arnold’s home in 1948 with $12,000 after a stint in the Merchant Navy in WWII! It became one of the most popular destinations in South Vermont.
Bennington Rolled Edge Plate or Trivet.
It is 4.6 " or 11.75 cm.
The number on the back is *1290
Circa 1950's-1960's
“Born David Goldfarb in 1922 in New York to immigrant parents, Gil grew up in Harlem, a multi-ethnic neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. He took art and pottery classes in high school and was soon producing ceramics under the auspices of President Roosevelt's arts-friendly Works Progress Administration. Although still a teenager, he was hired to sit at a wheel and throw pots in public as a craft demo for visitors to the World's Fair in New York in 1939. He was enrolled from 1940 to '42 and again from 1946 to '48 at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. (In the intervening war years, he served as a merchant seaman.) With his first wife Gloria, he moved to Bennington after graduating, with plans to start a design studio. It was at this time that he changed his surname, perhaps to better blend into life in a traditional New England village. Design discovery through artistic collaboration was a driving force for Gil as he began his career, and in its first phase, the business (housed in an unheated barn) was the creative effort of a group of modern designers. They originally called the enterprise Cooperative Design, which Gil later changed to Bennington Potters. Gil won many national awards during the 1950s, and his works were exhibited internationally. In 1959 Gil's tableware lines were picked up by Raymor, well known New York distributors of modern domestic products. (The company was also known as Richards, Morgenthau & Co.) Gil moved Bennington Potters to its current site on County Street, taking exceptional delight, recounts Harden, in rehabilitating forlorn wooden and brick supply buildings adjacent to a railroad spur. The complex grew to be a vast design showcase for Bennington's production wares.”
http://vermontartsliving.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2&limitstart=1
many thanks AmberRose!
It looks like a little catch all dish to me...trivet doesn't make sense. Love that bit with the hand and brain!
Bennington Potters - The First Twenty-Five Years, 1948 - 1973
April 12, 2001
http://www.retn.org/programs/bennington-potters-first-twenty-five-years-1948-1973
The Gloria Gil lecture!
Hi Amber. The hand and brain makes perfect sense. It had taken my eye and puzzled me for years. Gloria made reference to the "mystery" in her lecture. It's a long video but a joy to listen to her memories.
Many thanks Dr.F!
Many thanks MSL!
Kevin, love it...what do you think of my painting acquisition? Do you think I did good?
He's in the Who's Who and that is good. Otherwise it is just personal taste, n'est-ce pas?
Many ehanks Thoscahaba, charcoal and czechman too!
love the dish and the design,color!!! nice one!!!!!!!!!!!!! beautiful!!!!
Many thanks Sean, Mikel and AUSTRO'n WEIRDPUCKETT too!
More good detective work.
Thanks for sharing this piece. I was born in Bennington, Vermont and it is always fun to see something from back home. The original Bennington Pottery was quite different, mostly crocks and jugs. As a kid we would dig the local dumps and drag home Bennington items to sell to the flatlanders. They loved it. If something didn't sell we used it for target practice. Can you even begin to imaging setting up a Bennington crock or jug with a blue cobalt design and seeing who could shoot out the blue? If only we had known! :(
Your very welcome Kevin!!!
Beautiful piece and a great article on it, Vetraio. I am for the brains and hands too.
Many thanks Phil, fhrjr2 and those kind words mcheconi too!
Many thanks bratjdd!
Many thanks maryh1956!
Mmmmm!..are those chocolate buttons stuck to the plate vetraio50...very nice..:-)
They look like Smarties! M&M's!
Many thanks inky, petey and cobaldcobold too!
Many thanks Leah!
MANY THANKS KERRY10456!
Many tHanks GargOyleColleCtor!
sent ya a message on FB:)
Thanks SEAN!
Your welcome Kevin !!! and again thankyou Kevin as well for your help!!!!
Many thanks Deanteaks and tombraider too!
Many thanks TONINO and MANIKIN too!
Hi you seem to be doing really well getting the information that is needed to understand the pieces you find that is part of the enjoyment for me, But I see I need to learn a lot more about searching on my computer I have never tried YouTube. Very well done anyway.
Many thanks Zowie!
Many thanks SarahHoff!
Many thanks MANIKIN!
Many thanks BRATJDD too!
Many thanks TONINO!
Many thanks Manikin!
Many thanks NORDICMAN!
Many thanks again AGHCOLLECT!!!!
I've just come across this post. Thank you for this information! I recently discovered a little gem from his Design Collective (a lion wall plate) and came across David Gil's obit in the NY Times while researching. A very interesting man!
Many thanks BALLISTICMELISSA, RADEGRUNDER & DLPETERSEN.
Many thanks ROYCROFTBOOKSFROMME & THOMAS !!!!!!!!
Many thanks NEWFLD !!! !!! !!!
Many thanks HUNTERQLEE !!!!!!
Many thanks VCAL !!!!!