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DAVID GIL BENNINGTON CO-OP DISH

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Pottery9308 of 12310Beautiful & Shapely Vase~Made in Japan~Gorgeous GlazeYet another mystery vase
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    Posted 11 years ago

    vetraio50
    (751 items)

    DAVID GIL BENNINGTON CO-OP DISH

    Some things are a little had to come across in Australia. American pottery is a case in point. But every once in a while you can find a piece. This is an item bought fifteen odd years ago here at the Rozelle Markets in Sydney. The Bennington name was something I’d come across years before in books but that was a totally different mottled ware. I went searching on the net but there was little information about this modernist ware. What did that mark mean?

    It was only recently that I came across the mark again on the net. I had another look around on the net for David Gil (1922 – 2002) and the Bennington Collective. The topic had exploded into to something new. I went looking for the little dish and saw that it was described as a ‘trivet’. Oh dear, I thought: “Trivet?”

    I discovered the ‘trivet’ while reorganizing some stuff that was headed for Vinnies. I loved the glaze and the turned lip. The dots of yellow, orange/red and blue glaze sit quite proud of the matt grey background glaze. I really don’t see this as a trivet. Nothing would sit steadily on the surface.

    Then I came across a youtube interview with Gloria Gil and discovered a little more about the Bennington experiment. Gloria explained the meaning behind the impressed symbol: “A hand and a brain, we work with our hands and our minds.“ A mini-Bauhaus in Vermont: pottery, furniture, fabrics and design …… all with a Scandinavian modern twist. Cooperative Design. Set up in Benedict Arnold’s home in 1948 with $12,000 after a stint in the Merchant Navy in WWII! It became one of the most popular destinations in South Vermont.

    Bennington Rolled Edge Plate or Trivet.
    It is 4.6 " or 11.75 cm.
    The number on the back is *1290
    Circa 1950's-1960's

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    Comments

    1. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      “Born David Goldfarb in 1922 in New York to immigrant parents, Gil grew up in Harlem, a multi-ethnic neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. He took art and pottery classes in high school and was soon producing ceramics under the auspices of President Roosevelt's arts-friendly Works Progress Administration. Although still a teenager, he was hired to sit at a wheel and throw pots in public as a craft demo for visitors to the World's Fair in New York in 1939. He was enrolled from 1940 to '42 and again from 1946 to '48 at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. (In the intervening war years, he served as a merchant seaman.) With his first wife Gloria, he moved to Bennington after graduating, with plans to start a design studio. It was at this time that he changed his surname, perhaps to better blend into life in a traditional New England village. Design discovery through artistic collaboration was a driving force for Gil as he began his career, and in its first phase, the business (housed in an unheated barn) was the creative effort of a group of modern designers. They originally called the enterprise Cooperative Design, which Gil later changed to Bennington Potters. Gil won many national awards during the 1950s, and his works were exhibited internationally. In 1959 Gil's tableware lines were picked up by Raymor, well known New York distributors of modern domestic products. (The company was also known as Richards, Morgenthau & Co.) Gil moved Bennington Potters to its current site on County Street, taking exceptional delight, recounts Harden, in rehabilitating forlorn wooden and brick supply buildings adjacent to a railroad spur. The complex grew to be a vast design showcase for Bennington's production wares.”
      http://vermontartsliving.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2&limitstart=1

    2. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      many thanks AmberRose!
    3. AmberRose AmberRose, 11 years ago
      It looks like a little catch all dish to me...trivet doesn't make sense. Love that bit with the hand and brain!
    4. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Bennington Potters - The First Twenty-Five Years, 1948 - 1973
      April 12, 2001
      http://www.retn.org/programs/bennington-potters-first-twenty-five-years-1948-1973
      The Gloria Gil lecture!
    5. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Hi Amber. The hand and brain makes perfect sense. It had taken my eye and puzzled me for years. Gloria made reference to the "mystery" in her lecture. It's a long video but a joy to listen to her memories.
    6. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Dr.F!
    7. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks MSL!
    8. Moonstonelover21 Moonstonelover21, 11 years ago
      Kevin, love it...what do you think of my painting acquisition? Do you think I did good?
    9. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      He's in the Who's Who and that is good. Otherwise it is just personal taste, n'est-ce pas?
    10. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many ehanks Thoscahaba, charcoal and czechman too!
    11. SEAN68 SEAN68, 11 years ago
      love the dish and the design,color!!! nice one!!!!!!!!!!!!! beautiful!!!!
    12. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Sean, Mikel and AUSTRO'n WEIRDPUCKETT too!
    13. Bootson Bootson, 11 years ago
      More good detective work.
    14. fhrjr2 fhrjr2, 11 years ago
      Thanks for sharing this piece. I was born in Bennington, Vermont and it is always fun to see something from back home. The original Bennington Pottery was quite different, mostly crocks and jugs. As a kid we would dig the local dumps and drag home Bennington items to sell to the flatlanders. They loved it. If something didn't sell we used it for target practice. Can you even begin to imaging setting up a Bennington crock or jug with a blue cobalt design and seeing who could shoot out the blue? If only we had known! :(
    15. SEAN68 SEAN68, 11 years ago
      Your very welcome Kevin!!!
    16. mcheconi mcheconi, 11 years ago
      Beautiful piece and a great article on it, Vetraio. I am for the brains and hands too.
    17. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Phil, fhrjr2 and those kind words mcheconi too!
    18. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks bratjdd!
    19. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks maryh1956!
    20. inky inky, 11 years ago
      Mmmmm!..are those chocolate buttons stuck to the plate vetraio50...very nice..:-)
    21. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      They look like Smarties! M&M's!
      Many thanks inky, petey and cobaldcobold too!
    22. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Leah!
    23. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      MANY THANKS KERRY10456!
    24. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many tHanks GargOyleColleCtor!
    25. SEAN68 SEAN68, 11 years ago
      sent ya a message on FB:)
    26. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Thanks SEAN!
    27. SEAN68 SEAN68, 11 years ago
      Your welcome Kevin !!! and again thankyou Kevin as well for your help!!!!
    28. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Deanteaks and tombraider too!
    29. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks TONINO and MANIKIN too!
    30. Zowie Zowie, 11 years ago
      Hi you seem to be doing really well getting the information that is needed to understand the pieces you find that is part of the enjoyment for me, But I see I need to learn a lot more about searching on my computer I have never tried YouTube. Very well done anyway.
    31. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks Zowie!
    32. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks SarahHoff!
    33. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks MANIKIN!
    34. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks BRATJDD too!
    35. vetraio50 vetraio50, 11 years ago
      Many thanks TONINO!
    36. vetraio50 vetraio50, 10 years ago
      Many thanks Manikin!
    37. vetraio50 vetraio50, 10 years ago
      Many thanks NORDICMAN!
    38. vetraio50 vetraio50, 10 years ago
      Many thanks again AGHCOLLECT!!!!
    39. ballisticmelissa ballisticmelissa, 6 years ago
      I've just come across this post. Thank you for this information! I recently discovered a little gem from his Design Collective (a lion wall plate) and came across David Gil's obit in the NY Times while researching. A very interesting man!
    40. vetraio50 vetraio50, 6 years ago
      Many thanks BALLISTICMELISSA, RADEGRUNDER & DLPETERSEN.
    41. vetraio50 vetraio50, 5 years ago
      Many thanks ROYCROFTBOOKSFROMME & THOMAS !!!!!!!!
    42. vetraio50 vetraio50, 5 years ago
      Many thanks NEWFLD !!! !!! !!!
    43. vetraio50 vetraio50, 5 years ago
      Many thanks HUNTERQLEE !!!!!!
    44. vetraio50 vetraio50, 2 years ago
      Many thanks VCAL !!!!!

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