Studio Ceramics & Applied Arts Thursday, 25 November 2021 - 4:00 PM start

Lot 0370 « Prev Lot View All Lots Next Lot »

Raewyn Atkinson (b 1955) - Gifts of Civilization

Realised: $4,000 plus premium

Lot Details

coil vessel red earthenware clay slip, scraffito, transfer print & oxide, signed & dated '03 to base with original paper label, 19cm height, 44cm length, 27cm width PROVENANCE purchased from Avid, Wellington ‘Gifts of Civilization’ is the term used by Captain Cook to describe the contact between Europeans and the native peoples his expeditions encountered. Hawai’ian history from the arrival of Captain James Cook with his exchange rates and his sailor’s diseases, to the annexation of Hawaii by US businessmen, provides rich imagery for the vessels in this exhibition. This includes the influence of the Freemasons, the power of the U.S dollar, the promotion of Hawai’i as a tourist destination, the proliferation of white stretch limos, and photographs celebrating the ‘melting pot’ of races. This series was inspired during and following a month long residency at the University of Manoa, Hawai’i in 2002. The traditional Hawai’ian bowl, the Poi vessel, used for food and religious ceremony, provided the inspiration for the form.