Lili Krakowski on wed 4 aug 04
.=20
>There would always be these elderly
>ladies with the most hideous of the blue pots that they loved and took
>home on the first day of the sale. Sometimes there were disputes over
>the ugly blue pots. Hence the name Granny Grabber. As it was said
"You will never go broke underestimating the taste of the American
>public".
>Rick
>Ps. we do not have such a glaze where I teach, would not allow it.
Rick:
If indeed you would not allow blue glazes where you teach, do kindly =
tell us WHERE you teach so we can warn people agin it.!
As an elderly woman of impecable taste, I resent your broad brush =
approach to eldery ladies and your assumption that they like blue =
pottery because have taste so bad it can't be underestimated.
For one: blue happens to be a traditional color in dinnerware. Not just =
flow-blue but endless fine stoneware, a lot of decoration on the =
salt-glazed crocks and such which are "collectors" items. A lot of the =
old Japanese imported stuff. And so on. Trust you have heard of Delt =
and old Dutch tiles? My favorite ginger jars...
What could be prettier than to dine in a room with Dutch tiles on the =
walls, a white double damask table cloth, and a blue dinner set. and red =
gladioli in a blue vase?
Blue goes well with food. From lentils to salmon mousse, from fruit =
salad to mashed potatoes, blue is pretty with food.
That potters have fits of the the Flying Fizzies over blue glazes really =
is THEIR snobbery, ignorance--oh, yes, this elderly lady is in a =
temper--and arrogance.
It is fine for some contemporary US potters to go into rhapsodic swoons =
over Japanese glazes whether they are pretty or not. Why exactly blue =
Japanese glazes are despised and grey, taupe, verdigris, moss, brown, =
black extoled is beyond me. I am as deeply in awe of Mel's new red =
glazes and the pots they adorn as anyone, and see these red pots as the =
result of a Master Craftsman's diligence, patience, talent, knowledge, =
and perseverance. I wrote Clayart a post saying so, but it got gobbled =
up in the crash.
I admire these glazes, I honor the potters who perfect them. But I =
would not presume to go on from there and slam other glazes, and the =
pots that wear them.
I certainly would not presume to slam old women, accuse them of bad =
taste, and like that because I for one am too in love with a subdivision =
of a sector of world pottery to tolerate other ware.
I expect that if you search the www pages of some of the potters on =
Clayart you will find blues from turquoise to navy and back--- =
beautifully used, on lovely pots. No one forces them on you.....And the =
idea you would ban them from a school where you teach!!! To put it =
another way. I cannot stand Jane Austen, nor Henry James, nor =
Fitzgerald. But would I even think of striking them from the =
curriculum or library of a school where I taught? Heaven forbid!
Lili, the Elderly Lady
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