Abstract

      From his earliest known commercially successful dinnerware design (EconoRim, for Onondaga Pottery) to his innovative, and justly famous, Free Form line (for Salem China Co.), Viktor Schreckengost’s bewilderingly multi-faceted career as an industrial designer includes a significant amount of design using ceramic media. The dinnerware shapes and treatments that Schreckengost devised for several American manufacturers are among the most innovative designs in the history of American dinnerware from the 1930’s, ’40s, and ’50s.

      Jo Cunningham, the doyenne of American dinnerware scholars, will present a survey of Schreckengost’s ceramic design career, from his earliest art pottery, for the Cowan Pottery, through his later dinnerware designs for the (American) Limoges and Salem China companies. Cunningham’s presentation will touch briefly upon Schreckengost’s ceramic sculpture and wall reliefs, and examine some of the influences on Schreckengost’s ceramic designs. A brief exploration of the origins and iconography of Schreckengost’s world-famous Jazz series will be included.

Biography: Jo Cunningham

      Mrs.Cunningham is the author of five books on American dinnerware: The Best of Collectible Dinnerware (Schiffer, 1999); The Collector’s Encyclopedia of American Dinnerware (Collector Books, 1982; 2nd ed., 2005); Homer Laughlin China, “A Giant Among Dishes”, 1873-1939 (Schiffer, 1998); Homer Laughlin China, 1940s & 1950s (Schiffer, 2002); and (with Darlene Nossaman), Homer Laughlin China: an Identification Guide to Shapes & Patterns (Schiffer, 2002). She is currently working on a dinnerware book that will encompass about thirty five potteries that were located in the Tri-State area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.