The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Printer-friendly version 
Printer version
Ruth Rippon
1927 Born
EDUCATION
1945-1947 AA Sacramento Junior College
1947-1949 BA California College of Arts and Crafts (California College of the Arts), Oakland, California
1950-1951 MFA College of Arts and Crafts (California College of the Arts), Oakland, California
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1956-1987 Professor, California State University (CSU), Sacramento, California
BIOGRAPHY
Ruth Rippon is known for making functional pieces. She was equally comfortable when throwing, coiling or slab building her forms.
Nature was a major influence on her work throughout her career. Rippon was known for making pieces in a full range of sizes from domestic scale to major floor pieces. She was known for her carved surfaces which perhaps lead to the contribution for which she is best known, the development of "sgraffito-through-engobe," drawing or scratching designs into raw clay body through the engobe (a slip-like substance made with clays containing kaolin or calcined kaolin instead of ball clay (used in slips) and a fritted material). Rippon gained considerable public recognition after completing a commission for her “lollies”, short for ‘little old ladies on display’ at the Pavilions Mall in Sacramento, California.
While at California State University, Sacramento, Rippon helped found the University’s ceramic arts program. Rippon was an influential teacher who worked to establish the department’s reputation.
Rippon studied with Antonio Prieto at the California College of Arts and Crafts.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California
Chico State College, Chico, California
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
Memorial Museum, Rochester, New York
Mills College Art Museum, Antonio Prieto Memorial Collection, Oakland, California
Pavilions Mall in Sacramento, California
San Francisco Art Commission, San Francisco, California
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clisby, Roger D. Ruth Rippon: Recent work. Sacramento, CA: Crocker Art Museum Gallery, 1983.
Daniels, Diana. and Martha Drexler Lynn. The Vase and Beyond: The Signey Swidler Collection of the Contemporary Vessel. Sacramento, CA: Crocker Art Museum, 2010
Holland, Ruth A. Ruth Rippon. Sacramento, CA: E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, 1971.
Lynn, Martha Drexler. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940 to 1979. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.
Perry, Barbara. American Ceramics: The Collection of Everson Museum of Art. New York, NY: Rizzoli International Publishers, 1989.
Pilar, Jacquelin. Ruth Rippon: Ceramic Sculpture. Fresno, CA: Fresno Art Museum, 2002.
"Ruth Rippon Retrospective Exhibition." Ceramics Monthly 19, no.3 (March 1971).
Servis, Nancy M. "Ruth Rippon Her Story." Studio Potter 45, no.1 (Winter/Spring 2017).
Untracht, Oppi. "Sgraffito Through Glaze---Ruth Rippon Decorates a Pot." Ceramics Monthly 5, no.9 (September 1957).
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Dane Cloutier Archives
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified July 22, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/rippon-0
