Edward Winter Enamel Bowl

Edward Winter (1908-1976) was an artist whose work, innovations and teaching is often credited with having rekindled interest in the making of enamel in America. As a young man he went to Vienna to study with one of the greatest masters of Wiener Werkstatte design, Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956). We can only assume that his education there, in the heady, post-war days of Austrian design, fueled his oft voiced convictions regarding the deserved parity of functional objects with those of traditional fine art(e.g. painting or sculpture). A relatively avant garde position then in America.

This bowl is typical of the sophistication that marks Winter's work. An opaque, carmel brown encircles the central thin-olive-over-gold ground devoted to the composition. The design is drawn into the olive so that one assumes the production must have required multiple firings. The composition is whimsical yet very pleasing. Tempered by the earthy green and brown, the gold has a mellow glow.

The bowl measures 12.5 inches, diameter. The enamel on the verso is curdled and signed "Winter" on the base, both of which are hallmarks of the artists work.

There are a couple of minor chips to the rim that honestly do not detract from the beauty of the piece.