Jose A. Cunha

Palissy Majolica Bowl Snake Spider Frog Caterpillar Butterfly Lizard

circa 1870s

"Dark Days Ahead" is in fact a glorious paper-thin porcelain sculpture with fluted sides. The "two bowls and one ball" are nestled and permanently fixed. The black and white linear design to the porcelain is relieved by the movement of the fluted sides of the "bowls." This complex design is both light and airy while being visually weighted by the innermost "ball" being covered in a silver glaze suggesting heavy stainless steel. The ceramic piece is slip cast porcelain, masking tape stenciled and glazed in the style of abstract expressionism, specifically Pointillism.  It was fired in oxidation at 2230 degrees Fahrenheit.  The sphere in the center has luster glaze. John Albert Murphy...

The rich tones of the stoneware clay come through the soft creamy glaze that drips over the surface like melted vanilla ice cream over red devil cake. This beautifully rendered ceramic vessel is perched on little decorative feet that poke out of the body of the piece. Of particular interest and commanding presence are the decorative forms attached to the top and sides. They twisted shapes of bent organic growth and provide endless entertainment for the creative imagination. American Post War and Contemporary Artist, Gawaine Dart...

ONE WEEK ONLY SALE The rich tones of the stoneware clay come through the soft creamy glaze that drips over the surface like melted vanilla ice cream over red devil cake. There are i...

"Pod" is a precious sculpture with a decorated tactile surface and a warm glaze giving the piece a soft glow. The transparent glaze enhances the creamy tones of the clay. Ms. Oka Doner created unique hand-size sculptures during the 1960s of which the "Pod" is an exquisite example. Her clay technical skills cover a wide range from enormous wall pieces to small decorative pieces that demand to be touched and held. This piece, despite being a fruit, is the perfect example of her famous "Tatooed" figurative sculptures. Michele Oka Doner (born in Miami Beach, Florida, United States) is an American artist and author who works in a variety of media including sculpture, prints, drawings, functional objects and video. She has also worked in costume and set design and has created over 40 public and private permanent art installations. She is best known for her “A Walk On The Beach,” a one and a quarter mile long bronze and terrazzo concourse at Miami International Airport. It is composed of over 9000 bronzes embedded in terrazzo with mother-of-pearl. At one and quarter linear miles, it is one of the largest artworks in the world. She is granddaughter of painter, Samuel Heller. She attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her art instructor Milton Cohen was experimenting with The Space Theater and George Manupelli began the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Their students were engaged in poetry, dance, light, music, all combined into a unitary vision, a motif that shaped Oka Doner's student years and is characteristic of her work today. She participated in a Manupelli experimental film, a "Map Read" performance with art drawing instructor Al Loving and Judsonite dancer Steve Paxton as well as several "Happenings." Another influence was art historian and Islamic scholar, Oleg Grabar, who illustrated how patterns in architecture are able to dissolve space. She received her BS and MFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 2008 she was a U of M Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; Germans Van Eck Gallery, New York; Diane Brown Gallery, New York; Art & Industrie Gallery, New York; Willoughby, Marlborough Gallery, New York; Studio Stefania Miscetti in Rome; and Gloria Luria Gallery in Miami, Florida. During the 1960s Michelle Oka Doner was living and working in Detroit, Michigan, where she became acquainted with Charles McGee and his gallery located in the Fisher Building...

Antique 19th century Portuguese Majolica Palissy style plate with large snake and large lizard searching through mossy tuft, signed Jose Alves Cunha (Caldas da Rainha) with snake, wo...

Small Portuguese Majolica Palissy Platter signed Jose A. Cunha. With a snake , butterflies and worms. ( Caldas da Rainha, Portugal ) Diameter / 4.5 inches.

Mafra Portuguese Palissy Majolica wall plate which features a lizard in a burrow, defending itself from a snake. Also, a frog peering out of a burrow and another lizard retreating in...

Antique 19th century Portuguese Majolica Palissy style plate with large snake searching through mossy tuft, signed Jose Alves Cunha (Caldas da Rainha)...