Vintage Studio Pottery

First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S

First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S
First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S
First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S
First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S
First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S

First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S
Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6. 1982 vintage Dewey Studio cat by Mary Gates. This is the first year these cars were produced by Mary Gates. This beauty measures 12 w x 11 high. Hand built ceramic cat sculpture.

Made by Dewey Studios, this 1982 piece depicts a wide-bodied cat finished in cream with pit firing marks in smoky markings of browns and deep greys. This particular Dewey Cat is the oldest and most valuable of the Dewey collection, and is in absolutely perfect condition. Upon high school graduation, she moved north to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she majored in painting. She first studied ceramics at the University of Alabama where her then-husband was teaching, and found a real affinity for the diverse applications of clay.

Mary and her family moved back to Ohio and she continued working in clay, opening a gallery and studio in Zanesville in the early 1970's and teaching ceramics and sculpture at Muskingum College in New Concord. When her teaching contract ended, she moved to Athens in the foothills of the Appalachians.

She built her house and studio in the midst of the woods a mile from the nearest road. With no electricity or running water, she began her ceramics work in simplicity and earnest.

She came upon the idea for the cats by serendipity in 1982, and today it is only cats that leave the studio. The cats evolved over the years, the studio grew, the house is like a gallery to those who visit, but there is still no electricity or running water.... And Mary Gates Dewey was contented on her peaceful hill in southeast Ohio until her passing in 2013. Dewey's cats are handmade of clay and the colors and patterns are produced by an ancient method of firing called sawdust or "pit" firing.

Once the piece has been bisque fired in a kiln, it is buried in sawdust and the sawdust is burned. The smoke from the sawdust produces the permanent colors in the clay. Sizes vary slightly and color patterns are random.

Mary's cats have been continuously sought after by collectors and cat lovers. The item "First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S" is in sale since Sunday, May 5, 2019. This item is in the category "Pottery & Glass\Pottery & China\Art Pottery\Studio/ Handcrafted Pottery". The seller is "dan5469" and is located in Lagrangeville, New York.

This item can be shipped worldwide.

  • Material: Clay
  • Original/Reproduction: Original


First Year Vtg 1982 Mary Gates Dewey Studio Ceramic Cat Sculpture Pottery #6 S