When I was younger I didn’t know how to look at Bennett pottery. It’s like I didn’t get wine tasting until I had a Port with a piece of chocolate cake. Initially I thought wine tasting was putting food that you like with wine that you like. When I had desert with the Port I finally got it!
Three Bennett vases did that for me. These vases taught me another way to look at John Bennett work. Two vases (twins), are in the Bruce Barnes collection and another vase is in the collection of Robert Tuggle and Paul Jeromack.
JOHN BENNETT, art pottery vases decorated with yellow flowers and red berries on a green ground. Signed under bases “Bennett 101 Lex Ave N.Y. 1877″. MEASUREMENTS: 9”. Bruce Barnes collection.
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The pair of vases above look like coca-cola glass with flowers that are pressed against the glass surface. In the photos it looks like you can see all the way through the vase. It looks like your seeing the backside of the flowers on the far side of the vase.
John Bennett accomplished this by the way he handles the backgrounds. He has a watercolor style of transparent layers. As a child I thought it was messy! Now I realize it does give it a transparent look, like light is coming through the piece.
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Collection of Robert Tuggle and Paul Jeromack.
In the case of the Tuggle/Jeromack vase, the vase looks like a “glass” vessel shaped environment, filled with flowers at night.
Bennett’s other style is a flattened look, like expensive “wallpaper”. My two vases are one of each look. The yellow one looks flat and the small grey vase looks more atmospheric and 3-dimensional.
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John Bennett, Vase, 1891, London Studio
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The color plate from Woman’s Handiwork in Modern Homes (1881) also demonstrates both styles. The lamp in the center looks more 3-D and atmospheric and the covered jar has the 2-dimensional, stylized wallpaper look.
A portion of the book, dealing with John Bennett and a link to the complete book (which can be downloaded for free) can be found in the new “Press & Publications” section of this site (menu at top).
The charger above recently sold in England. It falls into the “glass” category. It looks like stained glass with translucent blue glass embedded with clear heart shapes that look onto a garden of flowers.
When I see John Bennett pieces now, I always think of them in those two categories, “wallpaper” or “glass”.
I’ve even thought that his heavy outlining was reminiscent of the lead in stained glass windows.
I think his Faience style, though started in England may have been influenced by his relationship with Louis Comfort Tiffany.
John Bennett Pottery 