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JT Abernathy Vase

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JT Abernathy Vase
Product Details
J.T. Abernathy, American (Ann Arbor), b. 1923. A 20th century Stoneware vase with two applied handles. Bulbous urn form with a wide mouth and flared rim, glazed with shades of Blue in leaf design on White ground. Incised "JT" at underside. 6 5/8" diameter (plus handles) x 7 1/2" high.

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Biography:

Born in Clayton, Oklahoma, Abernathy attended Oklahoma A & M University and the University of Washington before receiving an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951, where he studied with Maija Grotell. He was an instructor in ceramics at the University of Michigan from 1953-1956, and he has been on staff of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild since it’s inception. In 1956 Abernathy established a production studio and gallery outlet in Ann Arbor which became nationally recognized for his technical innovations.
He designed large production kilns, developed new variations on the traditional potter’s wheel, served as a distributor of Michigan clay to potters throughout the United States, and trained numerous apprentices. Abernathy is known for the for the large size of his wheel-thrown forms, his work in ceramic tile, and his glazes. His works remain in the permanent collections of the American Museum of Ceramic Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the University of Nebraska, the Wichita Art Association, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Abernathy’s work is dynamic, perpetually in flux, driven by his insatiable curiosity. He calls himself a “classicist,” but uses the term loosely. “Some of the stuff I’m doing now is definitely not classic,” Abernathy says with a grin. “I was taught by a lady who was Swedish, I was fascinated with Oriental ceramics, and I lace all that into production and engineering— I’m a hodgepodge of information.” Deft and seasoned, he can finish a piece in four hours: bisqued, fired and glazed.

Abernathy began throwing pots he was 23, his previous experience with art no more than drawing comics as a child. “After about an hour of my first pottery class, I went up to my teacher and said that I was going to be a potter. She said, ‘Oh my god you’ll starve to death!’ She was right.”

- Michigan Daily, November 2015



One Person Exhibitions:

1952 Women’s City Club, Detroit, MI
1953, 1980 Ann Arbor Art Association, Ann Arbor, MI
1959-1960, 1967 Forsythe Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
2023 Gutman Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI


Group Exhibitions:

1949-1950, 1952, 1958 Ceramic National, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
1949-1960,1962-1963, 1966, 1969 Exhibition for Michigan Artist-Craftsman, Detroit Institute of Art, MI
1950Works in Progress, Detroit Institute of Art, MI
1951 Works in Progress in Michigan I, Detroit Institute of Art, MI
1954, 1959, 1964, 1968 Decorative Arts and Ceramics Exhibition, Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KA
1955, 1957, 1959, 1962Fiber/Clay/Metal, Detroit Institute of Art, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN
1956 Museum of Contemporary Crafts, OR
1959 La Ceramique Contemporaine, Ostend, Belgium
1963 Michigan Art: Yesterday and Tomorrow, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
1968-1969,1971 Ceramics Invitational, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI


Collections:
Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL