Rago Auctions

“Even the act of peeling a potato can be an artistic act if it is consciously done.” - Joseph Beuys

A mere 15 years or so after Vincent Van Gogh’s gritty The Potato Eaters and decades before Joan Miro’s Surrealist Potato or Claes Oldenburg’s sculpted baked potatoes, George Ohr elevated that most humble of tubers to trophy status. Since his rediscovery in the 1970s, Ohr has been considered by many to be a forefather of modern art and, more specifically, Abstract Expressionism. His paper-thin, sculptural, vividly glazed pots certainly presage the direction painting would take after WWII but the present lot, a strikingly realistic yet non-functional potato in a decidedly unnaturalistic bright green glaze, draws more parallels to the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and 60s. It is difficult to know, of course, exactly what Ohr’s modus operandi was in creating this work, but we do know he was painfully aware that his own generation did not understand him and he opined in a 1901 interview: “When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished.” 

He was right, and some of the earliest collectors of his work were none other than modern artists such as Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol. There is a Frank Gehry-designed museum in his name and his pieces are now in permanent collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian. Ohr’s legacy also influenced generations of modern ceramic artists including Betty Woodman, Peter Voulkos, Kathy Butterly, and Sterling Ruby. As Garth Clark eloquently stated in 2018, “Ohr is a prism that deflects time and links primal creativity”; that the present lot can be better appreciated over 100 years after its creation is a testament to Ohr’s eccentric, futuristic genius. 

I first heard of Terry and Ralph Kovel in 1974, when their eponymous book on American Art Pottery, The Kovels' Collector's Guide to American Art Pottery, was published. I still have my original copy. It’s difficult to imagine this now, but half a century ago there was very little retrospective or critical information available on early 20th century American decorative ceramics. Of the few then-published books ceramiphiles had at their disposal, most were incomplete, non-critical, and otherwise modest additions to the paucity of information available on the subject. Another exception from that era was Paul Evans’s Art Pottery of the United States, also published in 1974, but Evans was focused on what he considered to be the most important period producers, rather than adopting the more comprehensive approach the Kovels took. The Kovels’ book, for example, included some art porcelain companies, as well as some of the marginal outlets that operated on the fringes of the art pottery movement. Together, these two books became the bibles of those early days, shedding light (and a lot of collector and museum interest) on a new field that had been mostly forgotten since WWI.

While earlier books marked the completion of an author’s interest in decorative ceramics of the period, the Kovels continued to publish articles and gather more information through the ensuing decades. I remember once asking Paul Evans if he’d consider writing articles for our Style: 1900 magazine, a bi-monthly periodical dedicated to the Arts and Crafts Period that was in print from 1987 until 2010. While he appreciated my entreaty, he explained: “I’ve already said what I had to say.” The Kovels, however, never tired of finding new avenues to explore.

Of all the work championed by the Kovels, they clearly had a close connection to George Ohr and the man who sold the potter’s work to the world, James Carpenter. The Kovels discovered Ohr pottery while researching in the basement warehouse of the Smithsonian Museum.  Fascinated by his work, they wrote the first article to appear on Ohr, published May, 1972 in The Western Collector magazine. As popular as Ohr is today, such radical work was a very hard sell back in the dark ages of pottery in 1972-73. I would suggest that Carpenter, knowing Ralph and Terry were going to publish a definitive work on the subject, made sure the couple ended up with an exceptional representation of the potter’s ware. Some of them still bear the original Carpenter price tags, written in pen in his hand, $25, $40, and so on. Carpenter secured an extensive chapter for Ohr in the Kovels’ book, and the Kovels acquired nearly forty works fresh from Carpenter’s historic coup. The rest, as they say, is history.

This auction represents a cross-section of many of the Kovels’ collecting interests, a compendium of what America was hunting once the baby boomers came of age and started nesting. Still, as diversified a glimpse as this sale offers, at its heart it is mostly about the mad genius from Biloxi, Mississippi, George Ohr. These pieces are presented for the first time in half a century, and only the second time since they left the Ohr family in Biloxi. 

David Rago: Why did you do the book on American Art Pottery? 

Terry Kovel: We collected it and couldn’t find anything out there, so I did the research myself. It was easy to do since a lot of the pottery came from the Midwest and many of the companies were still in business.  

DR: You were among the first to recognize what has become a greatly respected art form. When did you first start collecting the work?

TK: We didn’t know we were collecting it  We were just buying what we liked at house sales and flea markets  

DR: Was it a long-time interest or did you feel the changing winds for things Arts and Crafts?

TK: We bought American Art Pottery because we liked the look. It was more modern and more of the times for a 50s house. Plus, we couldn’t afford the more expensive European pottery like Flora Danica.

DR: Of course you have a lot of Ohr in your collection, but what American potteries of the era do you like the most?

TK: I like gardening and doing flower arrangements so I bought a lot of Rookwood since the flowers look so good in their vases. Plus they are made to support flower arrangements. I also like Van Briggle for the same reason. 

DR: How did you meet Jim Carpenter?

TK: He came to the house with a van full of Ohr pottery after he acquired the collection. Carpenter was a dealer and came across the collection while looking for old cars. He had set up at the antiques fairs but hadn’t sold any and came to us for more information as we were the only ones that had written about Ohr at the time.  He took all 40 pieces out of his van and set them up on the dining room table Ralph saw them and liked them all and asked how much to buy the whole lot!  

We later went to Carpenters warehouse and saw the entire collection  

DR: What is your favorite piece of Ohr in the collection?

TK: The ones with a lot of twisted arms and the puzzle jugs.  

DR: Most of the bidders (and hopefully buyers) of your collection will be either museums or post war and contemporary art collectors. Is this something you would ever have anticipated? 

TK: No.

Ralph (1920 - 2008) and Terry (b. 1928) Kovels' influence on the world of collecting is incalculable and their accomplishments innumerable. The couple married in 1950 and wrote their first book together, now titled Kovels' Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain, 1650-1850, in 1953. In 1986, they released a new book, Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks: Pottery and Porcelain, 1850 to the Present. As the definitive source for collectibles and values, the Kovels are renowned for their eye for antiques, art, and design.

When the Kovels began their collecting journey they were complete neophytes. Terry remarked in an interview: "In the beginning, we were always doing it together. He was a super salesman and I was a good researcher... So it was fun for me. We found subjects that no one else was doing." They learned by looking, researching, and collecting. The success of their first book led Ralph to pitch a column on antiques and collectibles to the Cleveland Press, "Know Your Antiques," which became the longest-running syndicated column in the country. Their secret, as Terry has said, was making it approachable: "We always include definitions on the things we don't know. We make it easy for people to understand what we are writing about." For perhaps the first time, at least in the United States, antiques and collecting were made accessible to the masses.

The Kovels were also incredibly diversified in their interests, collecting everything from banana stickers and textiles to furniture and American art pottery; as Ralph used to say when asked why he only collects: “If we own it, it’s priceless.” Over the decades that followed the publication of their first book their business developed into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. They wrote over 100 books, one of which, the Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, has sold over four million copies and is considered one of the bibles of the field. They have been consulted numerous times for their expertise in court cases and various newspapers; wrote the "Collectibles" entry for the Encyclopedia Britannica; appeared on talk shows and starred in three TV series, “Know Your Antiques” for PBS, “Flea Market Finds with the Kovels” for HGTV, and "Collector's Journal with Ralph and Terry Kovel" for the Discovery Channel; and won two Emmy Awards. Their eponymous website, Kovels.com, was created in 1998 and to this day remains a priceless resource for collectors worldwide where one can check over 1,000,000 prices.

Terry remarked recently: "Building a great collection takes a lot of time, extensive knowledge and some luck, too. I am thrilled to pass our legacy of great finds onto the next generation of passionate antiques collectors." It is with great pride that Rago and Toomey & Co. offer a selection of Ralph and Terry's impressive collection here.