Detail View: The AMICA Library: Pedestal

AMICA ID: 
MIA_.98.276.8
AMICA Library Year: 
2002
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name: 
Northwestern Terra-Cotta Co. (Norweta)
Creator Nationality: 
North American; American
Creator Role: 
manufacturer
Creator Name-CRT: 
Northwestern Terra-Cotta Co. (Norweta)
Creator Name: 
Moreau, Ferdnand
Creator Nationality: 
North American; American
Creator Role: 
designer
Creator Dates/Places: 
Born in France; 1853 - 1920
Gender: 
M
Creator Birth Place: 
France
Creator Name-CRT: 
Ferdnand Moreau
Title: 
Pedestal
View: 
Front
Creation Date: 
about 1911
Creation Start Date: 
1909
Creation End Date: 
1913
Materials and Techniques: 
glazed terra cotta
Classification Term: 
Pottery
Dimensions: 
H.38-1/2 x W.13 x D.12 in.
Component Measured: 
overall
Measurement Unit: 
in
AMICA Contributor: 
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 
98.276.8
Credit Line: 
The Modernism Collection, gift of Norwest Bank Minnesota
Rights: 
http://www.artsmia.org/restrictions.html
Context: 

Fernand Moreau, the designer of this pedestal, trained as a sculptor in his native France before immigrating to America in 1880. Moreau opened a studio in Washington, D.C., and then moved to Chicago sometime before the 1893 World?s Fair. By 1902 he was teaching ornamental modeling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1904 he went to work for Gates Potteries, joining Fritz Albert, the factory?s chief modeler. Albert left for the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company in 1906, and Moreau followed a few years later.

This pedestal was designed as a base for a molded terra-cotta lamp featuring a seminude female figure by Fritz Albert. At some point over the years, pedestal and lamp were separated. The cast decoration of the base consists of an imaginary Egyptian cityscape and a stylized cat and owl.
Related Image Identifier Link: 
MIA_.25302c.tif