After studying under Peter Voulkos at the Los Angeles County Art Institute, Denver native Paul Soldner (1921–2011) became a pottery professor there in the 1960s, when the revolutionary California Clay Movement took root.
Soldner pioneered American-style raku firing methods, experimental updates of the centuries-old Japanese process, which involve pulling red-hot sculptures out of the kiln to be bathed in smoke or dipped in cold water, resulting in beautifully frazzled glazes.
“These new firing and post-firing reduction methods often led to spontaneous, unpredictable and quite wonderful results,” says Greg Nielson, of Dwell Floor Five, in Studio City, California.
Soldner’s raku vases, for instance, with their charred surfaces, seem to smile humbly through the scars of their past adversity.
Alongside the likes of Toshiko Takaezu, Soldner innovated chunky, funky ceramics in the mid-century and beyond. He is one Voulkos student at whom enthusiasts should take a serious look, advises dealer Jayson Lawfer.
The owner of The Nevica Project, a gallery with venues in Chicago and Kansas City, Lawfer explains that Soldner “was a master of raku and was credited with bringing the historic Asian technique to the U.S.” He adds that “Soldner used simple techniques of throwing pottery on the wheel, but to make his sculptural forms more interesting, he also pressed burlap into the clay and stepped on it to give it different textures."
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Paul Soldner California Studio Stoneware Pottery Vase
By Paul Soldner
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A spouted stoneware bottleneck vase with tenmoku glaze created by Paul Soldner of Claremont, California, circa 1960. Vase stands 9 1/8" in height and is signed Soldner on the bottom....
Stoneware
Paul Soldner Abstract Expressionist Studio Ceramic Vase
By Paul Soldner
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Paul Soldner (1921-2010) abstract expressionist pottery vase. Glaze in black and brown, partly unglazed. Excellent design, mint condition. Signed Soldner on the bottom. Measures: 10" H x 8 3/4" W. Paul Soldner (1921-2011) was an American ceramic artist, noted for his experimentation with the 16th...
Clay
Ceramic Vase, Glazed Stoneware Vase, Ciboure Pottery, France, circa 1925
By Ciboure
Located in New York, NY
One of a set of beautiful ceramics from Ciboure Pottery, this piece is inspired by antiquity—evident in its form, its spare coloring, and its depiction of classical figures. Produced...
Stoneware
MCM California Studio Pottery Stoneware Fan Shaped Vase - Signed
Located in San Diego, CA
A very well crafted MCM California studio pottery stoneware fan shaped vase, circa 1970s. The vessel is in very good vintage condition with no chips or cracks and measures 11.25"W x ...
Stoneware
MCM California Studio Pottery Stoneware Vase
Located in San Diego, CA
A very nice MCM California studio pottery stoneware vase with brown earth tones, circa 1970s. The vessel is in very good vintage condition with no chips...
Pottery
$6,000
H 8.75 in W 4.25 in D 4.25 in
Ceramic Vase, Glazed Stoneware Vase, Ciboure Pottery, France, 1940s
By Ciboure
Located in New York, NY
One of a set of beautiful ceramics from Ciboure Pottery, this vase is decorated by Pedro Garcia de Diego (1904-1969)with a captivating arabesque pattern in blacks and browns on a neu...
Stoneware
MCM California Studio Pottery Stoneware Vase
Located in San Diego, CA
A very nice MCM California studio pottery stoneware vase with brown and green earth tones and pinched sides, circa 1966. The vessel is in very good vint...
Pottery
Ruskin Pottery Ceramic Vase, Glazed Stoneware, 1927
By Ruskin Pottery
Located in New York, NY
Ruskin Pottery ceramic vase is made of hand thrown drip glazed stoneware. Impressed signature and date to underside: [Ruskin England 1927]. About the studio: "The Ruskin Pottery ...
Ceramic
Roy Newman Pear Tree Pottery Stunning Studio Vase
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A stunning studio pottery drip glazed vase by Roy Newman made at Pear Tree Pottery in Sheffield. The stoneware vase is of rounded bulbous shape standing o...
Stoneware
California Studio Pottery Ikebana Vase
Located in San Diego, CA
California studio pottery signed ikebana vase with multiple openings, circa 1960s. This very unique piece measures: 4.5" D x 14.5" H and is signed on the ...
Pottery
MCM Signed California Studio Pottery Stoneware Vase with Sunbursts
Located in San Diego, CA
A very nice MCM signed California studio pottery stoneware vase with sunbursts, circa 1960s. The vessel is in very good vintage condition with no chips or cracks and measures 5.75"D ...
Pottery
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 9.25 in Dm 4.25 in
Paul Bellardo Teardrop Perforated Studio Pottery Sculptural Vase
By Paul Bellardo
Located in Hyattsville, MD
Paul’s first one-man-show was in 1965 at the DeCordova Museum of Fine Arts in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was at this showing that 18 pieces of Paul’s work were purchased by Walt...
Stoneware
American Midcentury Studio Pottery Vase, Signed
Located in Miami, FL
Beautiful glazed decorated, stylized and graphic design vase revealing a contrasting matte blue green underglaze. Unique handcrafted piece. Signed.
Ceramic
Paul Soldner Large Raku Fired Ceramic Pottery Bowl
By Paul Soldner
Located in Studio City, CA
An amazing and special piece by renowned American potter Paul Soldner who in the 1950s was Peter Voulkos' first student and later became famed for developing the technique now known ...
Stoneware
Paul Soldner Raku Vessel
By Paul Soldner
Located in Winnetka, IL
This is a Paul Soldner( 1921-2011) 1970s raku vessel
Ceramic, Lucite