Berea College Art Collection

This Tiffany favrile vase was designed and created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the beginning of the twentieth century. Louis Comfort Tiffany was the premier designer of the decorative arts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, known mostly for his glass work. Tiffany patented favrile glass in 1894 and began its production in [...]

This sixteenth century steel tsuba was crafted for a katana, or what is commonly referred to as a samurai sword. The tsuba is of the Genshu Suruga style and very plain in its overall design. Each tsuba shape has its own name, the simple circular shape being known as Maru Gata. Katanas and other Japanese [...]

This set of two painted porcelain bowls were created in the Jingdezhen province of China. These bowls feature a design of a Western dragon in blue glaze on the inside. The Western dragon is associated with anger and isolation, rather than strength and wisdom like its Eastern counterpart. The outside of the bowl is a [...]

This vase, created by Clément Massier, has a rich aubergine color, mixed with gold and green lustre glaze. Directly under the neck, on the shoulder of the vase, are six half-rings, to be used for suspension. Massier was born into a family a ceramicists and, from an early age, took an interest in continuing the [...]

This tea bowl was created around 1850, by a Kyoto-based potter by the name of Lokuba. As the capital and seat of the Imperial Court in Japan for over 1000 years, Kyoto set the quality standard for arts and crafts. Artists who hail from this region are considered to be some of the best, and [...]

Framed by peonies and plum blossoms, two pheasants grace the center of this dish. The plate is vibrantly colored with rich shades of blue, pink, green, orange, yellow, gold, black, grey, and white. The scene depicted on the plate is heavily influenced by nature, specifically some of the flora and fauna local to the area. [...]

Rookwood Pottery, a prominent American ceramics company, began in Cincinnati, OH in 1880. It was the first female-owned manufacturing company in America. The owner of Rookwood, Maria Longworth encouraged her team of artists to explore new techniques and be creative. This vase features the “Iris” glaze. In the late 1890s, Rookwood Pottery introduced three new [...]

In 1986, Silvie Granatelli presented this teapot as a gift to the College Art Collection. It is made of white porcelain and has a thick slip trail design, with a slight speckle in the porcelain. The teapot is initialed on its bottom and the handle is made of bamboo. Granatelli is a potter, but her [...]

This print was made by Hiroshige Ando, a great Japanese printmaker famous for his landscape series and woodblock techniques. Hiroshige came from the Samurai class, and was charged with preventing fires in Edo Castle. This responsibility left him with much leisure time, and at the age of fourteen he started to learn traditional painting, which [...]

This woodblock print was created by Sadao Watanabe, a famous Japanese printmaker of the twentieth century. Watanabe is best known for his biblical productions made in the traditional Japanese style. The scene depicted here is of a nativity, with three men praying over a child being held by its mother. The print is primarily monochrome, [...]