A historic display of about 140 pieces of Pewabic pottery is on exhibit at Kresge Art Museum through Dec. 16.
Compiled from private collectors, museums throughout the state, Pewabic Pottery and the Kresge Art Museum, the exhibition "Pewabic: A Century of Michigan's Art Pottery" is an extensive look at the work of Mary Chase Perry Stratton.
"This is the first time you can see the range of (Perry Stratton's) work," said Kresge Curator April Kingsley.
Stratton began her career in the late 1890s painting china. She was involved in Arts and Crafts in the United States, a movement that focused on artisan and craftsman aspects of art that rebelled from Industrial Revolution products.
"Their goal was to get back to making beautiful things by hand," said Kresge Director Susan Bandes.
Stratton realized she preferred working with glazes, so she began glazing small cosmetic boxes for commercial purposes, Kingsley said.
However, the commercial side of pottery did not interest her, so Stratton began to experiment even more with glazes, Kingsley said.
"She was a scientist, a glaze chemist," she said.
Stratton's major patron, Charles Lang Freer, exposed her to other pottery forms, including Asian pottery. "He challenged her to come up with glazes," Bandes said.
One look at the glazes on the Pewabic pottery shows the wide range of possibilities glazes can have. Stratton's metal-based glazes were created with ground up pigments of copper, Kingsley said. Even between the copper-based glazes, some were oxidized to make a green shade and some were oxygen reduced, causing a reddish color.
Stratton also experimented with alkaline glazes, which caused bubbling effects, and glazes containing uranium, to make brightly colored Fiestaware.
Stratton's glazes cannot be replicated because she worked with some dangerous materials, such as uranium, and she did not leave a public record for the formulas.
"She didn't want the glazes to be used because she wanted everybody to invent their own things," Kingsley said.
Stratton worked until her death in 1961, at the age of 94.
After her death, MSU got involved with Pewabic Pottery when the company began to struggle, Bandes said. MSU owned Pewabic from 1965-1981, using it as an outreach in Detroit to teach pottery to all ages.
Throughout 1910-50, Stratton did about 400 commissions of tiles in buildings such as offices, bars, houses and churches.
MSU's campus has examples of tile installations. The Union, Landon Hall and Shaw Hall are just a few places to see her work. Maps are available for download at www.artmuseum.msu.edu.
Kingsley said people will see how impressive Stratton's glazing was through the exhibit and tour.
"She has such depth in her glaze," Kingsley said.
