Mary Given Sheerer | |
---|---|
Born | Sarah Given Sheerer 1865 Covington, Kentucky |
Died | 1956 Cincinnati, Ohio |
Resting place | Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky |
Nationality | American |
Education | Art Academy of Cincinnati |
Known for | Pottery |
Movement | Newcomb Pottery, Arts and Crafts movement |
Website | www |
Mary Given Sheerer (1865-1954) was an American ceramicist, designer, and art educator, best known for her affiliation with the Newcomb Pottery project at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, now part of Tulane University.[1]
Sheerer was born in Covington, Kentucky in 1865.[2] She studied art in Massachusetts, the Art Students League of New York, under Hugh Breckenridge at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and graduated from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.[3][4] While living in Covington in the early 1890s, she worked at Rookwood Pottery Company.[2] In 1894, Newcomb art faculty founders William Woodward and Ellsworth Woodward made Sheerer their first faculty hire.[4] She became a full professor in 1903.[2] From 1903 to 1909, Sheerer was appointed as professor of pottery design and supervisor of pottery decoration; her official title was Professor of Pottery and China Decoration. In 1909, Sheerer was promoted to Assistant Director of Pottery.[5] Sheerer was a member of the Cincinnati Museum Association, Cincinnati Crafters Club, New Orleans Art Association, Cincinnati Womens Art Club, and the American Federation of Arts.[6] Her works were displayed at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915.[2][6] She was noted for designing glazes and pottery decoration.[7]
Sheerer was responsible for setting standards and guiding Newcomb Pottery's day-to-day production.[8]
She gave technical advice to Mississippi ceramicist Peter Anderson.[9]
Sheerer retired from the Newcomb faculty in 1931.[3] Post Sheerer's retirement from Newcomb Pottery, she was awarded as a fellow of the American Ceramic Society on March 11, 1931.[10] She died in December 1954 in Cincinnati and is buried at Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.[2]
The "Spanish Dagger Plate" is the product of collaboration between decorator, Mary Sheerer, and potter, Joseph Meyer.[11]