Stephen Polchert

Shallow bowl

Stoneware with celadon interior and iron rim

Signed S. Polchert and dated 1-58

9.5 in. diameter × 2 in. H

Low, open form with a clean circular rim. Exterior in a pale, slightly speckled cream; interior thrown rings left visible under a soft celadon-green glaze that darkens toward the well. A thin iron-brown line defines the lip. Quiet, functional studio ware from Polchert’s Omaha years—January 1958, five years after his Cranbrook MFA.

Incised signature and date on the foot.

Stephen Joseph Polchert (1920–2008)American studio potter. Born in Milwaukee; studied at the Layton School of Art (1946–48), the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, then Cranbrook Academy of Art (BFA 1952, MFA 1953) under Maija Grotell. He spent most of his working life in the Omaha area—University of Omaha / Joslyn, Boys Town Trade School (1954–78), and teaching at Dana College, the College of St. Mary, Bellevue College, and Millard High School.

Known for wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware and for developing hundreds of glazes, later including crystalline surfaces. White and cream clay bodies were his preferred ground for color. Grotell—and, more distantly, Bernard Leach—remain the main points of reference. This bowl belongs to the teaching-studio period rather than the later crystalline work.