African Pantry Pot with Natural Rush Trivet

The early 20th-century South African clay beer pot from the Zulu culture is a spherical beer pot showcasing faintly incised decorations at its midsection, offering a glimpse into the...

Beautiful and whimsical ceramic vase handmade by celebrated artist Mathilde Schaefer, wife of noted Arizona artist Lew Davis. This unusual and rare terra cotta vase with a glazed turquoise interior (and other glazed portions: manes, tails, hooves and eyes), is dated 1949 on the bottom in pencil and marked "Desert Kilns Arizona." Also inscribed in pencil on the bottom: “Merry Christmas from Bill Benton.” We are not certain who the recipient was but the vase was owned and given as a gift by Bill Benton, a Senator from Connecticut who wintered in Arizona. He was a friend of Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s when Arizona and Phoenix in particular had a very active art community. Known in Arizona in the 1960s as an instructor of pottery and sculpture at the Desert School of Art in Scottsdale and also as the wife of artist Lew Davis, she was born in New York City and studied with Raoul Josset and Walter Lemcke. In 1938, she began exhibiting at the Art Institute of Chicago. She married Davis and they moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where she maintained a studio. Her sculpture is in numerous collections including that of International Business Machines...