Cambells Soup Dinner Plates

The name of American artist Andy Warhol is all but synonymous with Pop art, the movement he helped shape in the 1960s. He was phenomenally prolific, and the archive of original photography, prints, drawings, paintings and other art that he left behind is beyond vast.

Andy Warhol is known for his clever appropriation of motifs and images from popular advertising and commercials, which he integrated into graphic, vibrant works that utilized mass-production technologies such as printmaking, photography and silkscreening. Later in his career, Warhol expanded his oeuvre to include other forms of media, founding Interview magazine and producing fashion shoots and films on-site at the Factory, his world-famous studio in New York.

Born and educated in in Pittsburgh, Warhol moved to New York City in 1949 and built a successful career as a commercial illustrator. Although he made whimsical drawings as a hobby during these years, his career as a fine artist began in the mid-1950s with ink-blot drawings and hand-drawn silkscreens. The 1955 lithograph You Can Lead a Shoe to Water illustrates how he incorporated in his artwork advertising styles and techniques, in this case shoe commercials.

As a child, Warhol was often sick and spent much of his time in bed, where he would make sketches and put together collections of movie-star photographs. He described this period as formative in terms of his skills and interests. Indeed, Warhol remained obsessed with celebrities throughout his career, often producing series devoted to a famous face or an object from the popular culture, such as Chairman Mao or Campbell’s tomato soup. The 1967 silkscreen Marilyn 25 embodies his love of bright color and famous subjects.

Warhol was a prominent cultural figure in New York during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The Factory was a gathering place for the era’s celebrities, writers, drag queens and fellow artists, and collaboration was common. To this day, Warhol remains one of the most important artists of the 20th century and continues to exert influence on contemporary creators.

Find a collection of original Andy Warhol art on 1stDibs.

Whether you’re adding an eye-catching mid-century modern glazed stoneware bowl to your dining table or grouping a collection of decorative plates by color for the shelving in your living room, decorating and entertaining with antique and vintage ceramics is a great way to introduce provocative pops of colors and textures to a space or family meals.

Ceramics, which includes pottery such as earthenware and stoneware, has had meaningful functional value in civilizations all over the world for thousands of years. When people began to populate permanent settlements during the Neolithic era, which saw the rapid growth of agriculture and farming, clay-based ceramics were fired in underground kilns and played a greater role as important containers for dry goods, water, art objects and more.

Today, if an Art Deco floor vase, adorned in bright polychrome glazed colors with flowers and geometric patterns, isn’t your speed, maybe minimalist ceramics can help you design a room that’s both timeless and of the moment. Mixing and matching can invite conversation and bring spirited contrasts to your outdoor dining area. The natural-world details enameled on an Art Nouveau vase might pair well with the sleek simplicity of a modern serving bowl, for example.

In your kitchen, your cabinets are likely filled with ceramic dinner plates. You’re probably serving daily meals on stoneware dishes or durable sets of porcelain or bone china, while decorative ceramic dishes may be on display in your dining room. Perhaps you’ve anchored a group of smaller pottery pieces on your mantelpiece with some taller vases and vessels, or a console table in your living room is home to an earthenware bowl with a decorative seasonal collection of leaves, greenery and acorns.

Regardless of your tastes, however, it’s possible that ceramics are already in use all over your home and outdoor space. If not, why? Whatever your needs may be, find a wide range of antique and vintage ceramics on 1stDibs.