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Andrew Raftery

January: Reading Seed Catalogs

Now On View

Description

Maker

Andrew Raftery (American, b.1962), (RISD Faculty 1991-, Printmaking)

Title

January: Reading Seed Catalogs
from the series The Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates

Year

2016

Medium

Transfer-printed engraving on glazed white earthenware

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Transfer-printed engraving on glazed white earthenware

Materials

transfer-printed earthenware

Dimensions

Diameter: 32.5 cm (12 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

[printed on reverse] JANUARY/Reading Seed Catalogs

Identification

Edition

2/80

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum purchase: gift of Joseph A. Chazan, MD

Object Number

2017.8.1

Type

Ceramics

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now

Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

Humans must live in harmony with the cycles and seasons of nature to succeed. RISD printmaking professor Andrew Raftery, a skilled gardener and avid English transferware collector, chronicled his monthly activities in his mother’s garden in Providence, beginning with seed selection in January, fertilizing in July, and contemplating the dormant garden beneath the snow in December.

Raftery created images, engraved them onto copper plates, designed the 12 plate shapes, and developed the ink used to transfer the image from the copper to the ceramic. He then collaborated with the late Larry Bush, RISD Ceramic Department professor, to develop a new clay body, formulate the glaze, and fire the plates with a team of students.

–Elizabeth A. Williams, David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design

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Tombstone

Andrew Raftery (American, b.1962)

January: Reading Seed Catalogs; from the series The Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2016

Transfer-printed engraving on glazed white earthenware

Diameter: 32.5 cm (12 13/16 inches)

Museum purchase: gift of Joseph A. Chazan, MD 2017.8.1

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