HOWARD PIERCE - Two Quail on a Branch
HOWARD PIERCE - Two Quail on a Branch | 11" h x 3" w x 4" d
Howard Pierce is one of the happy stories of the 1930’s and on in the pottery community. With limited formal schooling and a self-financed trip around the world, Pierce moved from Chicago to California to live with an aunt in 1934. Devoted to human and non-human anatomy and physiology, Pierce developed exceptional sketching abilities to create simple, flowing figures that helped define Mid-Century Modern (MCM) tastes, especially in California and throughout the United States. Howard Pierce was an integral part of the post-World War II sense of simplicity in design and décor, contributing to the lives and homes of a burgeoning and mobile population, especially the urban and suburban middle class.
Born in the 1910’s and living through the extravagant 1920’s and the following Great Depression, Pierce entered pottery with William Manker Ceramics, becoming Production Manager within a few years. Having apprenticed under Ernest Batchelder and graduated from the Chouinard School of Art, Manker opened a studio in 1932, later relocating to Padua Hills near Claremont and a teaching position at Scripps College. Manker’s extensive work with glazes and multiple colors influenced and provided critical knowledge to young Pierce. He learned the business “OJT,” making glazes and designing and creating molds for Manker and others, including Kay Finch, another famous Manker protégé.
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