Collection Online as of February 7, 2023
Stand for Perpetual Vine Cup
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Kenneth F. Bates
(American, Cleveland, 1904–1994)
Silver
Bequest of Marie Odenkirk Clark 1972.1195.b
Location
not on view
Description
Kenneth Bates spent a lifetime devoted to the art of enameling. He taught several generations of students at the Cleveland Institute of Art, who subsequently became renowned enamelists, and created a spectacular body of work that won him international accolades. This small, luxurious cup typifies the skill and technical prowess of Bates's talent. Featuring the cloisonné enamel technique known as plique-à-jour, in which the enamel is applied in cells with no backing, the cup seemingly exists with no structure, held aloft only by the tiny silver arms of its stand. The translucent enamel lets the light permeate as a stained glass window would in a church. The effect is ethereal and impressionistic, and in this way, recalls the work of the masters of this art from the early 1900s, René Lalique and Fernand Thesmar.
Kenneth F. Bates
Kenneth F. Bates was a long-time member of the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Art, who specialized in enamel work and was nationally recognized for his achievements in the field. Born to Francis and Winnette Litchfield Bates in North Scituate, MA, Kenneth pursued his art education at the Massachussetts School of Art and earned his bachelor's degree there. He came to Cleveland in 1926, and one year later joined the faculty of the Cleveland School of Art (later Cleveland Institute of Art). During his forty-three years at the CIA, he taught advanced courses in enameling and became professor emeritus in 1971. In 1927 Bates submitted his first enamel work to the May Show of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it received first prize. Bates continued to submit entries to the annual May Show for the next 62 years, garnering a long list of prizes. In 1946 he was awarded first prize in the national enameling competition. His works have been displayed in many museums and were featured in one-man shows in Brooklyn and Chicago. In 1987 the National Society of Enamelists honored him with the title "Dean of American Enamelists." Bates authored three books: Enameling: Principles and Practice, 1951; The Enamelist, 1967; and Basic Design, 1970.