The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
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1924 Born Guam
2010 Died Claremont, California
EDUCATION
1950 BA Applied Arts, Pomona College, Claremont, California
1957 MFA Ceramics, Claremont Graduate School, now University, Claremont, California
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1942-1946 Army Air Corps
1950-1964
Full time studio potter
1957-1971 Teacher, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, California
1964-1983 Designer, Franciscan Ceramics, Los Angeles, California
1983-2005 Full time studio potter
BIOGRAPHY
Rupert DeBese is known for creating functional thrown forms of cone 5 walnut colored stoneware decorated with geometric repeat patterns.
Deese studied ceramics with Richard Petterson and sculpture with Albert Stewart. For over 50 years Deese shared a studio with Harrison McIntosh, during this time they encouraged and often amused one another but their work remained distinctively their own. Deese and McIntosh shared some glazes, kiln firings and both worked in cone 5 stoneware, however, each had their own unique stoneware clay body and forms. In the case of Deese it was the walnut brown stoneware he used throughout his career.
Deese said of his work, “Considering the pot shape as primary, I have generally used simple, geometric elements—stripes, circles, incised lines and water-etched repeat patterns—to make the color and pattern of the finished piece”. To create the surfaces he desired, Deese often sprayed the glaze onto his pots. In the early 1950s he was one of the first production potters to produce a catalog to facilitate merchandising his work to department stores.
For a number of years from the 1960s to the 1980s Deese, in addition to his studio practice, worked as a designer at Franciscan Ceramics primarily focused on dinnerware forms and related stainless steel cutlery and lead crystal.
Additional images, courtesy of Limehouse Circle are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rupertdeeseceramics/albums
Public Collections
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred University, Alfred, New York
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California
Brunnier Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Maloof Foundation, Alta Loma, California
Mingei International Museum, San Diego, California
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, Utah
Richard and Alice Petterson Museum, Claremont, California
Ruth Chandler Williamsnon Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick, Gallery, Washington, DC
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Bibliography
American Museum of Ceramic Art. Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California, 1945-1975. Pomona, CA: American Museum of Ceramic Art, 2013.
Elliot-Bishop, James F. Franciscan Hand-decorated Embossed Dinnerware. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2004.
Kaplan, Wendy. California Design, 1930-1965, Living in a Modern Way. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011.
Lauria, Jo. Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rizzoli International Publications, 2000.
Lynn, Martha Drexler. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940-1979. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.
Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics, A Potter’s Handbook, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1966.
Noland, Claire. “Rupert J. Deese Dies at 85: Claremont Artist Created Functional Pottery”. Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2011.
Perry Barbara. American Ceramics: The Collection of the Everson Museum of Art. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1989.
Tigerman, Bobbye. A Handbook of California Design. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013.
Weiner, Rob. “Rupert Deese Stoneware.” Marfa, TX: The Chinati Foundation Newsletter, 1998.
CV or Resume: Click Here to Download
Source: The Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Dane Cloutier Archives
"The rectangular mark of his that you have in your collection is one he stopped using in about 1953, when he switched to using the circular mark, the vast majority of his ceramic works have the circular mark. In addition, there is an unusual mark that he used briefly in the late 1940s/1950." Mary Ann Brow, daughter
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified August 27, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/deese