There are pleasures to be gained in solitude, even when it is a pandemic that forces us into these long, quiet afternoons alone. One of our pleasures has been the opportunity to browse old issues of Persimmon Tree, recalling our favorite stories, reclaiming our love of poetry, and, especially, finding new delight in the works of art that have been so generously shared with us – and with our readers – over the years. You can find those precious collages, oils and drawings (to mention just three of the various art forms that have graced our virtual pages) in our Archives, but we thought we’d make it even easier for you by presenting some of our (many) favorites here.
We’ll start with the expressive pottery of Rose Cabat, whose work we first featured in our Fall 2014 issue. Rose Cabat was 100 years old then! (She was born June 27, 1914.) She died in January 2015 – only three short months after that Fall issue of Persimmon Tree. She was, Wikipedia tells us, an American studio ceramicist, part of the mid-century modern movement, and was best known for her innovative glazes upon small porcelain pots called ‘feelies’ often in the shape of onions and figs, and bowls. She was, at that time, the oldest known actively practicing pottery artist in the United States.
Here is how we introduced her and her pottery in our Fall 2014 issue:
For more than 54 years, Rose Cabat has been shaping exquisite pots that fit in a hand and beg to be stroked. Born in the Bronx in 1914, she moved to Arizona with her husband (and childhood sweetheart), the graphic artist Erni Cabat. She creates “feelies” in her studio, a narrow, dusty, tarpaper garage with a small window at each end, at the back of the very house she and Erni moved into in 1942.
It was Erni who introduced her to pottery when he brought some clay home from his job, planning to make and decorate some dinner plates. Rose tried her hand at potting; when Erni realized just how good she was, he became her lifelong supporter.
After taking a glaze calculation class at the University of Hawaii in 1956, Rose and Erni began developing their own glaze formulae, which she still uses. The glazes are lustrous, sometimes iridescent, in colors such as deep cobalt, a silky apple green, vibrant yellow and pewter. Sometimes she’ll mix them, with one color peeking out from another. These glazes are applied to subtle, sensual, rounded shapes that are the essence of Rose’s art.
All the feelies are onion-, fig-, or cucumber-shaped vases, never much larger than five inches tall and three or four inches wide, often as small as 1-5/8 x 1-3/8. The globular shape narrows to a closed neck, so tiny it cannot hold anything. Says Cabat of her pieces, “I wanted simpler shapes that went with the glazes … [a] vase can hold weeds or flowers, but can’t it just be a spot of beauty?”
Each year on their anniversary, Erni would give Rose a gift of a painting of the two of them or of Rose. (One is included below.) On November 8, 1994, Erni died. Since 1994, despite decreasing mobility but with hands that are strong and sure, Cabat has continued to create; she can throw a pot in 10 minutes. Her daughter June runs the business end of things.
To mark the milestone of her birth and the glory of her art, the Tucson Museum of Art has mounted a major retrospective.
One hundred years old and Still Working!
Press the “play” button below to watch Rose demonstrate her technique to one of her great grandchildren just before her 98th birthday.