$10,000

German/American
circa 1960’s

Sculptural, hand-formed vessel of painted and glazed clay, likely for use as a bird bath, by German/American artist and educator Peter Lipman-Wulf. Born in Berlin in 1905, Lipman-Wulf studied art at the local Academy of Fine Arts, absorbing German Expressionism as a formative influence. He moved to France in 1933 to avoid the National Socialists and eventually to the United States in 1947, where he created and taught art until his passing in 1993, engaging themes drawn from the Bible as well as mythology, music, dance, and literature. His work in various media is in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art NY, the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Jewish Museum, Cooper Union, Detroit Institute of Art, Baltimore Museum, Yale University, Smithsonian, V&A Museum, British Museum, Biblioteque Natioanal Paris, and Kunsthalle Hamburg. Of his work in clay, which he imagined as part of an age-old dialogue stretching back to prehistory, he wrote the following in an article titled “Artful Vessels in Fired Clay” in the Summer 1967 issue of Adelphi Quarterly: “ I love to create vessels which swell out in full pregnancy like fruit-bearing mothers. I love vases which balance on small feet but open their wide rims to a friendly sky as if wanting to catch the balm of a warm summer rain. I love the transformation of a vessel to a being; a human or animal symbol. I also love a pot which becomes the head of an animal or some frightening gargoyle. Pottery is the transition of shells found on the seashore in hot climate into living shapes which overcome the weight of their heavy bodies and begin to move.” The present work, a large, stylized two-headed bird supporting a bowl with an abstract rendering of a woman’s head inside (along with arm/handles), shares a vocabulary and a stature with contemporary designs in France (Vallauris/Picasso) and Italy (Salvador Meli). It is either the piece illustrated in the article referenced above (see attached) or one of a very limited series; in any event, one of the very few ceramic works by this artist to come to market. From the estate of a friend of the artist.

Condition
Fine overall condition with only minor wear consistent with age and use. A few small paint losses along the rim of the bowl.

Measurements
Height: 21.5 in.
Width/length: 19.75 in.
Depth: 15 in.

Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/techniques: Hand formed, painted and glazed clay