Stack Pot

Currently not on view

Stack Pot

1977

Peter Voulkos (American, 1924–2002)

Regarded by many as the founding figure of the American “clay revolution,” Peter Voulkos invented a form he called a “stack pot” in the mid-1960s. This sculpture represents his appreciation for imperfection informed by Asian aesthetic philosophy commingled with his interest in the material, process, and immediacy of Abstract Expressionism. With its four distinct volumes, each thrown on a potter’s wheel and assembled, Stack Pot has a totemic presence. Never intending for his stack pots to be classified as anthropomorphic, Voulkos gave the work a figurative quality. The distinctive form—defined by line, shape, and gesture—is distinguished by a sinuous profile with inscribed lines, gouges, and punctures on its surface.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Stack Pot
Vase

Date:

1977

Artist:

Peter Voulkos (American, 1924–2002)

Medium:

Stoneware, porcelain pass-throughs, glaze

Dimensions:

34 1/2 x 13 x 13 inches (87.6 x 33 x 33 cm)

Classification:

Containers

Credit Line:

Purchased with funds contributed by The Women’s Committee and the Craft Show Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1989

Accession Number:

1989-20-4

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view