MARY CHASE STRATTON (AMERICAN 1867-1961) PEWABIC

MARY CHASE STRATTON (AMERICAN 1867-1961) PEWABIC POTTERY IRIDESCENT STATION OF THE CROSS, VI, C.1924-1929 H 41.5" W 27.5" D 3" Station VI. "Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus", from the Stations of the Cross. This work was likely one of the prototypes shown to Charles Maginnis and Father Bernard A. McKenna as they selected the tiles and 14 stations of the Cross installed in in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC. This work differs from the Stations of the Cross installed in the Crypt Church in border design (Crypt borders had lower profile and have a leafy design), descriptive text (Crypt Church installation have no descriptive text or station identification number), and dimensions. As recorded by Lilian Myers Pear in "The Pewabic Pottery": "Charles Maginnis, the senior architect for the National Shrine stated "This is one of the most ambitious projects in glazed tile which has ever been undertaken in this country... The Stations of the Cross after three years of thought and study represent a fine aesthetic achievement." Similar examples are illustrated in figures 267 and 270 of Lilian Meyers Pear's "The Pewabic Pottery" p.138, 139. The commission in 1924 was the largest in the history of the pottery, and so monumental a task that design, approval, production, and installation took 6 years to complete. The location of this work had been unknown until a curator of Marygrove College discovered it in a storage facility c. 1960 - where it remained until today. Provenance: Collection of Marygrove College, Detroit, MI. Anonymous Donor. The Pewabic Pottery.
Dimensions: 41.5 x 27.5 x 3 in
Condition Report: Losses to the border in the upper right quadrant. Damage to "VI" medallion.