When Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman met and married in Detroit in 1948, they began a seven-decade love affair and creative partnership that would have a major impact on the aesthetic of California mid-century modernism.
At the time, Jerome was a charismatic World War II veteran, Evelyn a young assistant at Luce Lipton Interior Design Studio, where he first spied her folding fabric samples and presented her with a Milky Way bar.
Working out of their studio in Los Angeles, where they moved in 1952 to be part of California’s burgeoning design scene, the two would produce handcrafted case pieces, tapestries and other decorative objects in a variety of media, including ceramics, textiles, carved wood, mosaics and enamel.
The multifaceted pair collaborated with firms and designers such as Victor Gruen; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Paul McCobb; Steve Chase; and Arthur Elrod, an incredibly influential talent whose own clients included Frank and Lucille Capra, Hoagy Carmichael, Claudette Colbert, and more.
The Ackermans’ prolific body of work is distinguished by a hand-wrought sense of warmth and texture; a mix of folk art — like figuration and colorful abstraction; depictions of flowers, animals, children and mythical figures; and a belief in the Bauhaus principles of design. These days, their oeuvre proves very much in demand, and the Ackermans, in the tradition of husband-and-wife creators like the Eameses and Les Lalanne, rank among the most influential design couples in history.
Evelyn died in 2012 at age 88, while Jerome, known as Jerry, died in 2019. A testament to the renewed interest in their work, Pointed Leaf Press published Hand-in-Hand, Ceramics, Mosaics, Tapestries, and Woodcarvings by California Mid-Century Designers Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman in 2014, the first book to document the lives and careers of the couple.
Find vintage Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman furniture on 1stDibs.
Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman "Snowflake" Ceramic Dish
By Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This piece was directly acquired from the home studio of Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman in Culver City, California. The hand thrown ceramic dish entitled "Snowflake" is one of a kind. It...
Ceramic
Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman Ceramic Weed Pot
By Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This piece was directly acquired from the home studio of Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman in Culver City, California. The hand thrown ceramic weed pot is one of a kind. It is in pristine c...
Ceramic
Rare Jerome Ackerman for Jenev pottery bowl
By Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman
Located in Fraser, MI
Rare elongated ceramic bowl by Jerome Ackerman for Jenev.
Ceramic
Roger Capron - Vintage Ceramic Footed Serving Dish
By Roger Capron
Located in Stratford, CT
Vintage Ceramic Footed Serving Dish by Roger Capron - Vallauris, France Roger Capron was in influential French ceramicist, known for his tiled tab...
Ceramic
Georges Jouve Ceramic "Apple" Dish, 1950s
By Georges Jouve
Located in Paris, FR
Georges Jouve's Ceramic cup or vide-poches " La pomme " signed Jouve & apollon mark on back in deep enamel. White cracked enamel with a turquoise/green/pink apple Measures: 17 cm ...
Ceramic
Art Pottery, Studio Ceramic /Weed Pot, Feelie by Brenda Williams
By Brenda Williams
Located in Buffalo, NY
Art Pottery, Studio ceramic /weed pot, feelie by Brenda Williams. Northern California artist. Stunning form, wonderful glaze. Last photo ad...
Ceramic
$105
H 7.09 in Dm 3.94 in
Mid Century Vintage White and Green Porcelain Ceramic Pot Vase, Germany, 1960s
Located in 05-080 Hornowek, PL
Vintage glass in good condition. Only one unique piece. Another items from the collection are available in our store. Porcelain glass.
Ceramic, Porcelain, Glass
Art Pottery, Studio Ceramic /weed pot , feelie by Brenda Williams
By Brenda Williams
Located in Buffalo, NY
Art Pottery, Studio Ceramic /weed pot , feelie by Brenda Williams.. Northern California artist.. Stunning form,, wonderful glaze.. Last pho...
Ceramic
Enameled Fruit Bowl, Goose Dish, Ceramic
Located in Vienna, AT
Round fruit bowl / goose dish, body with a gloss glaze. Bowl in the form of a row running geese.
Ceramic
Raku Fired Ceramic Island Bowl by Jerome Heck
Located in San Diego, CA
Beautiful ceramic bowl by Jerome Heck crafted in the Raku firing technique. This one of a kind piece stands on four legs and develops and opens upwards. The glaze has variations of greens that ondulate in shape around the bowl. Inside the bowl, different designs come forward (turtle figure...
Clay
$7,600Sale Price|20% Off
H 3.5 in Dm 14 in
Ancient Rare Kashan Lustre Bowl 12th Century Islamic Pottery Art
Located in Vero Beach, FL
Ancient rare Kashan lustre bowl 12th century Islamic pottery art. This beautifully decorated and well cared for lustre bowl is one of the few examples still in existence. It was made in Kashan in the 12th-early 13th century, Seljuk- Atabeg period. Kashan was an important center for the production of high quality pottery and tiles. Lustre ware was among the most innovative development of Kashan potters, who mixed silver sulfides and copper oxides to create a shiny copper toned metallic sheen on the surface of glazed earthenware bowls, plates and vessels. It was an expensive and unpredictable lustre technique. Kashan lustreware pottery can be found in the collections of the British Museum and the Hermitage Museum. Literature: O. Pancaroglu. Perpetual Glory. Medieval Islamic Ceramics...
Pottery
Rare Schäffenacker Huge Art Pottery Wall Plate
By Helmut Friedrich Schäffenacker
Located in Munich, DE
Very Rare Helmut Friedrich Schäffenacker round wall panel in ceramic, Ulm, Germany, 1970, signed by the artist. Helmut Schäffenacker (1921 - 2010) wa...
Ceramic
Ancient Persian Rare Bowl Islamic Pottery Art
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Stoneware bowl, enameled; Made in syria Circa 15th and Earlier. Green and Yellow colors. Hand painted Pottery.
Stoneware
1960s MCM Green Drip Glaze Ceramic Serving Dish
By Santa Anita Ware
Located in Bradenton, FL
A Mid-Century Modern ceramic serving dish circa 1960, drip glazed in vibrant green hues and shaped like two adjacent leaves. Signed underneath “Santa Anita...
Ceramic
Spikes White Ceramic Handmade Plant Pot
By OWO Ceramics
Located in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, AR
Beautiful ceramic handmade plant pot. Carefully crafted, each planter is thrown and trimmed on the wheel, and every outer spike is individually attached by hand. Finished with a hand...
Ceramic, Clay, Pottery
Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman One of a Kind Studio Ceramic Vessel
By Evelyn & Jerome Ackerman
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
This vessel was designed and produced by Jerome Ackerman circa 2000-2010. The provenance of the piece is direct from the collection of Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman...
Ceramic