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Acrylic and Ceramic David Gil Sculpture, circa 1951

Name: Acrylic and Ceramic David Gil Sculpture, circa 1951
Brand: Bennington Potters
Rating: 5 (67 reviews)

$640List Price

About the Item

About The is an original sculpture by David Gil for Bennington Potters. A mid-century ceramic head with burnished screw eyes and leather tongue mounted on Lucite and a wooden base. Stamped in the back "Bennignton Potters Bennington VT DG 1951". The piece has retained its original finish and is in fair condition with appropriate patina for its age. A large crack is in the front and in the back. Lucite has some scratches. Creator David Gil (artist) Bennington Potters (manufacturer) Date of manufacture circa 1951 Materials and techniques ceramic, Lucite, wood. Condition fair. Wear consistent with age and use. Dimensions H 19.5 in. W 7.75 in. D 8 in. History 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 1940-1942 and again from 1946-1948 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, wellknown 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. In the mid-1960s, Gil’s was still in the news in major art periodicals. He was producing affordable limited edition ceramic items designed by some of America’s most famous mid-20th century artists. Despite little success with massmarketing the venture, Gil’s creative concepts placed him among the design trendsetters of the day. By the 1970s, wares from Bennington Potters were coveted and in many ways already legendary. The range of items designed and created by Gil during more than a half-century in his studio — including art pieces, prototypes, transition pieces and production runs of what would become Bennington’s “best sellers” — is nearly beyond cataloging. According to Harden, even the numbering system that the company began in the 1960s does not fully document or inventory the volume of work. Sheela Harden assumed her late husband’s corporate role as president and CEO of Bennington Potters after his unexpected death seven years ago. Still adhering to his philosophy of collaborative design, Harden works closely with talented ceramic artists and designers who are, as is she, fiercely loyal to Gil’s purpose. It is very likely the reason behind their continued success.

Creator:
Bennington Potters (Manufacturer)
Dimensions:
Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 7.75 in (19.69 cm)Depth: 8 in (20.32 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Ceramic,Leather,Lucite,Steel,Wood
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1951
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Minor structural damages.
Seller Location:
San Francisco, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1280212622112

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