Dec 14, 2017 - Sale 2465

Sale 2465 - Lot 17

Unsold
Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350
CHARLES GODFREY LELAND.
"The Owl." Painted and glazed ceramic plate with central image of a one-eyed (or blinking) owl wearing a red fez with a blue tassel, seated on a wooden perch, on a background of yellow, with a border containing black mice with interweaving tails and red berries. 305mm; 12 inches tondo. Unsigned by with a mostly worn away contemporary label attached to the verso containing an inscription from Emily Leland Harrison explaining that the plate was painted and gifted to her by her brother, the artist, and dated 1872.

Additional Details

a curious and charming piece of illustration ephemera. Leland was a well-published Pennsylvania-born journalist, editor and researcher of folklore. A pioneer of art and design education, he also founded, and was the first director of, the Public School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia, becoming an influential figure in Arts and Crafts design. Around the time he created this plate, he was traveling and living in Europe where he studied and published numerous works on ethnography, folklore, and language.