NEHMA | Collection

Elena Netherby

American
(1891–1977)

Bottle
circa 1960's

Porcelain
4.375 x 3 x 3 in.
Gift of Richard A. Harrison
1984.568

Elena Netherby primarily made porcelain bottles and vase forms. She is known for her high-fire reduction glazes, especially the sang-de-boeuf type seen on many of her works. (The French name can be translated as “oxblood.”) Also called flambé glaze, it is a glossy deep red, often slashed with streaks of purple or turquoise, which looks particularly good on porcelain. This example is typical of Netherby’s work. Her throwing skills were unsophisticated, but her experimentation in developing special glazes helped place her work in museums throughout the world.

Elena Netherby was born on a former Spanish land grant near Sacramento. She and her husband, William, came to Oakland in the early 1920s and began building homes. Elena was a potter, and using their construction skills, they patented the Netherby pottery wheel, which sold well throughout California, particularly in universities and art schools. After her husband’s untimely death, Netherby took over the management of the construction business, which she oversaw throughout her life, building hundreds of homes throughout the Bay Area. She studied ceramics at Mills College with F. Carlton Ball starting in 1939. The two of them cofounded the Mills College Ceramics Guild, which heightened the reputation of the Mills program. Tony Prieto followed Ball at Mills (1950–67). Netherby and the Guild were active throughout his tenure, during a time when Nora Eccles Treadwell worked in the studio there. The Guild was dissolved after Prieto’s unexpected death.

Billie Sessions, PhD.

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Unearthed , 8/23/2022 - 5/14/2023

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This object is a member of the following portfolios:

Unearthed | The NEHMA Ceramics Collection & The Woman Behind It

Ceramics

Unearthed | 1950s and 1960s

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Elena Netherby