Rose Cabat

1914Born

2015Died

EDUCATION

—Greenwich House, New York, New York

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

—Munitions plant during WWII

1940-2015Studio potter

Rose Cabat worked in earthenware, stoneware and, finally, porcelain beginning in the 1950s. Although best known for her expressive "feelies", small forms usually between two to eight inches in height with thin neck openings challenging their assumed vessel function. Cabat also created a series of wind-bells in the 1950s and other forms based on insects and animals.

Cabot, a self taught artist, first encountered clay as an artistic medium in 1940 when her husband, Erni, brought it home from work. Her first works were coil built, then, as electric wheels became increasingly available, she started throwing pottery. After a glaze calculation class at the University of Hawaii in 1956 she and Erni began developing the lustrous satin glazes used on her signature form; the “feelie.” 

An interview with Rose Cabat by Lisa Bunker done for the Perspectives of the Past Oral History Project is at the Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Arizona. A recording and transcript is available at: 
http://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/cdm/ref/collection
/pimacent/id/57.