Posted 15 years ago
mrdujour
(1 item)
I was wondering if anyone has ever seen a piece similar to this. I rescued it from a junk shop in Northern California. It is a huge and beautiful stoneware vase/bowl with linear striations, both inside and out, reminiscent of a sea urchin. The shopowner told me that it had been brought in by a little old lady who, according to her, had picked it up in an art gallery in St. Helena, CA (extremely ritzy Napa Valley town) in the late '60s for $250. Quite a price back then! The vase is unmarked (as far as I can tell), and measures approximately 11 in. high, and almost 20 in. across. I think it handbuilt rather than thrown, as the hole is only large enough for a small childs hand. It is very competantly potted. If anyone can help me out with identifying this vase, I would be very grateful!
I think it might be a Claud Conover...if so, congratulations!!
Here are some examples: He is one of my all time favorites...good luck!!
http://www.artnet.com/artists/claude-conover/
http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_search.php?i_creator=Claude+Conover
http://clevelandartsprize.org/awardees/Claude_Conover.html
Acording to artprice.com, Conover's work has sold in the rage of $3,000 to $12,000!
Wow! Thanks for your reply! I checked out the links, and all his stuff seemed to be prominently marked, and to me and my untrained eye, maybe a bit stylistically different? What makes you feel it could be Conover's? Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great if it was! I do see the obvious similarities, and I haven't done any digging on Conover beyond the links you provided...I am admittedly underversed on the artist and his work, so any reasoning behind your opinion would be of value to me! Meanwhile, I'll be doing my homework...
Thanks again!