In the eorly yeors of Eulota Amos's tenure os o professor in the
University of Georgio s department of ott, her colLeogues included, omong
others, Lomar Dodd, Ferdinond Warren, Howord Thomas, ond Horold
Westcott. Women were d decided minoity in those days, ond Amos could not
hove been but impressed by the occompLishments of this group ond others
who come to the depoftment, os she did, ot the behest of its choirmon,
Lamor Dodd. Yet Amos wos hordly in the shadow of these men. While o grad-
uate student ot )hio Stote University, she had oLreody deveLoped on innova-
tive process for attaching o siLver gLoze to ceronics. Quietly, but with o great
deaL of ossurance, she pefected the technique lnd built up o considerobLe
body of work, oLl the whiLe teoching ond seruing os a model for her students.
Yet, becouse she chose to devote herself to teoching rather thon
to pubLicizing her own work, her career has been negLected in ort-histoicol
literature. This exhibition ond brochure lre 0n ottempt to set the record
stroight, or dt tedst to give our oudiences some idea of the totent ond the
oiginoLity of this remarkobLe woman.
Ija Thurlow, the curotor for this exhibition, is o student in the
Museum Studies Progrom ot the Georgia ltluseum of Art; in this way,
Professor Amos has continued to teach in spite of hoving been retired fromthe University of Georgio for mony years. Ms. ThurLow hos been in chorge ofail aspects of this exhibition ond, much to her delight, this responsibility hos
included working directly with the aftist in prepoing the checkList for the
exhibition. She hos olso hod the good fortune to hove the assistonce ofProfessor Betty Sheerer, now retired from the Home Economics Depaftment ofthe University of Georgia. We ore also groteful to the pivote lenders to the
exhibition: Mr. C. L. l4oreheod Jr. and Michael ond l|ary Erlanger. They have
entrusted us with pized possessiont because Amos's works hove not been
dispersed wideLy in pivote coLlections. We oppreciote the JinancioL support ofJack ond Jefie Rowlond, who once ogain prove their devotion to the ort ond
ortists of Athens ond we ocknowLedge the generous contibution of the
Richard A. Florsheim Aft Fund. Finalty, we ore most groteful to Eulolo Amos
herseLf for continuing to inspire us with the depth of her commitment to her
ort and for the LoveLiness of the works thot she has produced.
Wittiam U. Eiland
Director
Georgia Museum o/Art@
Eul.ata Amos, 1996
THESE ARE THE THOUGHTS OF A POTTER
whose work has been an integraL part of her
Life since she discovered the medium almost
fifty years ago. Amos sti[[ uses most of her
pottery in her Large house with its beautiful
garden in Winterville, Georgia. The bowls hold
food, the vases hold flowers, and the [anterns
tight up the porch. During her twenty-five
years as a potter and ceramics teacher, Amos
created hundreds of works, and she secured
her ptace in the history of twentieth-century
ceramics by discovering a unique siLver gtaz-
ing technique.
The art of pottery runs in Amos's
famity. Her Pennsylvania Dutch ancestor, John
Leidy, made pottery untiI the onset of the
Revolutionary War forced him to stop. He
refused to fight because of his reLigious
beliefs, but he heLped the coLonists as a
German transtator. 0ne of his pots is currently
in the collection of the PhiLadetphia Museum
of Art.
Born in Fredericktown, 0hio, on
May 29, 1.907, Eu[a[a Amos attended AshLand
College and began a teaching career immedi-
ately thereafter. She taught at CoLumbia
School in Mount Vernon, 0hio, from 1927 to
1938 and served as its principaL from 1938 to
1943. She also taught art at Mount Vernon
High Schoot from 1943 until7944. MeanwhiLe,
she attended Ohio State University and
worked on a B. S. in education.
A chance visit to the art depart-
ment at 0hio State completety changed her
direction in tife. She saw the ceramics studio
and immediately decided to become a potter.
Amos, not knowing then about the grants
avai[abte to artists, soLd a[[ her possessions-
including her car-in order to purchase the
materials she would need. During Amos's
senior year of undergraduate work, Lamar
Dodd, a professor of art at the University of
Georgia, wrote to one of her teachers asking
for a ceramics instructor, and Amos was rec-
ommended. Dodd was interested in havinq her
teach at the University of Georgia, but she
wanted to stay at 0hio State. She received
her undergraduate degree in 1945 and began
teaching while working on her maste/s
degree in ceramics. During the summer of
1945 Amos taught ceramics at the University
of Georgia and so impressed Dodd that he
sent her letters every Christmas asking when
she woutd return to Georgia as a permanent
facutty member. She received her M. S. in
ceramics in 1947 and continued teaching at
Ohio State.
Three teachers at 0hio State
inspired her work: Pau[ Bogatay, Arthur
Baggs, and Edgar Littlefietd. Litttefield was
the first person to encourage her interest in
pottery. Bogatay to[d Amos, a senior at the
time, about a piece of pottery from Denmark
that had siLver inlay in ceramic g[aze. She
tried to reproduce the effect by welding siLver
to the pottery, but it did not adhere properly.
Soon after, a visit to the dentist for a fiLling
provided the solution she needed: she rea[-
ized that, if the dentist cou[d fiL[ her tooth
with silver, she could filt pottery with silver
in the same manner. Amos rushed out of the
dentist's office to buy some ama[gam with sit-
ver in it. She dritted holes in a pot to fiLl with
the si[ver, creating the inLay effect she had
been trying to achieve. Arthur Baggs said that
it was worth a master's thesis, so she did the
coursework, wrote the thesis, and earned her
master/s degree from 0hio State.
The silver inLay can be seen on
many of Amos's works. For examp[e, the smaLL
white bowl with two siLver feathers in the
bottom (Checklist No. 30) shows how a detaiL
can compLeteLy change the character of a
work. The two feathers, the most striking fea-
tures of the bow[, draw the viewer's gaze
immediatety to the inside. The bowl would
sti[[ be a wetl-formed work of pottery without
the siLver because of its smooth white gtaze
and perfect round form, but it woutd lack the
character that the feathers give it. 0n her
[arge btue ptate with the fish design
(Checktist No. 29), Amos uses sitver inLay to
create an elaborate composition. The fish is
outlined with siLver, and the surrounding
water patterns are highLighted with sitver
detaiLs. The blue alkatine glaze gives the fish
a watery setting.
In 1949 Amos surprised Dodd by
accepting his invitation to teach at the
University of Georgia. She began as an assis-
tant professor, became an associate professor
in 1956, and a fu[[ professor in 1966, teach-
ing ceramics, crafts, and art education untiI
her retirement as professor emeritus of art in
1970. During her career her work was inctuded
in severaI important exhibitions, including
the Art League Shows in Columbus, 0hio, and
the Butler Art Show in Youngstown, Ohio.
She showed work in the Fiber, Cloy, and Metol
exhibition series in St. PauL, Minnesota. Later
she participated in the DecoroLive
Arts-Ceromics exhibitions in Wichita, Kansas.
By this time she was weLlknown and partic-
ipated in invitationa[s at Corne[[ University
and the Smithsonian. She atso exhibited in
the Ceromic Nationot Exhibition in Syracuse,
NewYork. Amos won the Purchase Prize of
the St. Pau[ GaLLery in St. PauL as weLL. As her
career diew to a close, she received the
"Woman of the Year in Art" award for
Athens/Ctarke Qoi:nty, Georgia, in 1963.
ThroLighout her career Amos
experimented with several different clays and
glazes. The three main categories of pottery
are earthenware, fired at [ow temperatures;
stoneware, fired at high temperatures; and
porcelain, a speciaL white clav fired at high
temperatures. She worked in atl three types
but believed that porcelain was the most
difficutt to controL. Amos preferred to use ' .
stoneware: she couLd controL it better than
porcelain, and so make more decisions about
the final appearance of the work. The preva-
Lence of stoneware in this exhibition attests
to her love for the medium. She does not
have a favorite gLaze, though she enjoyed
working with iron. She says that she tried to
"fit the glaze to the pot." The fish pLate,
with its watery bLue gtaze, illustrates her
carefuI p[anning.
Amos also thin.ks that potters
shouLd not try to achieve the tefinement that
such related media as glasswork and oiL
painting achieve because pottery does not
ca[[ for it. "Pottery shoutd be earthy," Amos
says, "thafs where it comes from."
Perfection does not necessariLy mean a com-
pLeteLy smooth piece or an exact replica of a
classic form. A rough work with a good form
and a compLementary gLaze can be just as
pleasing as the most delicatety painted
porcelain. Many of Amos's works are rough to
the touch, such as her lantern (Checklist No.
31) or her taLL vase (Checklist No. 24). They
remind the viewer that they are made of
ctay, and thus reca[[ the naturaI world from
which they came and to which they wiLL
eventua[[y return.
The Lantern's form emulates the
structure of Chinese and Japanese temp[es: itis vertica[[y rectangular and its base and top
extend beyond the main rectangLe. The deco-
ration on the top resembles bones and
[eaves, and is simiLar to decorations irEastern temp[es. Amos has an extensive col-
lection of Asian arl, and here she shows its
influence upon her work. She does not, how-
evei .relinquish her own style: the roughness
of the work gives it an earthiness, and the
holes in iis.surface attest to the potter's skilt
because they ie.em to be natural formations.
fhe dihcing anthropomorphic
forms painted on the ta[[...vase show Amos's
interest in nature. The white dnimals create
a stark contrast to the brown clay, simiLar to
below: Checkli\t Nunbet 21
prehistoric cave paintings.
Amos wishes that more people
were going into ceramics, but "then there
wouLd just be more starving artistsl" Her
favorite work was atways the one she had just
finished. However, one of her best-Loved
works is the jug that bears the inscription
stating the relation of clay and fire to Life
(Checktist No. 34.) This jug speaks for the
entire medium and, most eLoquently, of
Amos's love of her art.
Irja J. Thurlow
Museum Studies Program
Georgia Museum ofArt
Note: ALL quatotians are fron an interview of the artistby the author,0ctober 1996.
Lantern,19695to newa re
14 1/2 jnches high
Vase,1953Sto newa re
10 1/2 inches high
Vase,19685to neware18 1/2 inches high
Low bowl, 19645to n ewa re
4 3/4 inches diameter
Low bowt,1953Earthe nwa re
6 inches diameter
Talt bowt, 1968Stonewa re
6 3/4 inches high
Vase, n.d.5to fewa re
5 1/4 inches long
Vase,1965Stoneware6 inches diameter
Low bowt,1963Stoneware6 1/4 jnches djameter
Ptate,1961Stoneware9 1/4 jnches diameter
Low bowt,1966Stoneware5 1/4 jnches long
Tatl bowt, 1963Stoneware6 1/4 inches high
Vase,1963Stonewa re4 1/4 inches long
Low bowl, 1964Sto newa re
4 inches diameter
Vase,19705to n ewa re
5 1/2 jnches djameter
Jug with tid,1965Stoneware5 1/4 inches djameter
Vase,1968Sto neware4 1/4 inches Long
Vase, 1945 35.Stoneware with satt glaze
3 3/4 inches high
Low bowt, 1969 36.Stonewa re
5 3/4 inches djameter
Vase, 1968 37.Sto n ewa re
8 inches diameter
Bowt, :1951 38.Ea rthenwa re
12 inches diameter
Tatl bowt,1946Stoneware wjth satt glaze 39.6 1/2 inches high
Vase,1967Sto newa re
13 1/2 inches hjgh 40.
Tat[ vase. 1969Sto n ewa re
11 1/2 lnches high
Box for ftowers, 1963S to newa re
7'r.res lorg
Vase,:19575to newa re
4 1/2 inches high
Vase,196B5to newa re
4 1/2 inches hiqh
Vase,1945Sto fewa re
4 inches high
Fjsh p[ate with sitver jntay, 1946Earthenware with atkatine btue giaze
25 1/2 inches diameter
BowI with silver feathers, 1946Po rcetai n
6 inches diameter
Lantern,1968Stoneware14 jnches high
Vase,1968Sto newa re
9 1/4 inches high
Vase,1969Sto newa re
8 3/4 inches high
Vase,1969Sto newa re
12 3/4 inches hjgh
Vase,1945Porcelajn wjth copper-red glaze
3 3/4 inches hjgh
Low bowt,1968Sto newa re
5 1/2 inches high
Vase,1970Sto neware6 1/2 inches hjgh
Spindleshanks, 1969Sto newa re
10 inches highColtection of MjchaeL and Mary Erlanger
Large bowt,1961Earthenware12 1/2 jnches diameterColtection of C. L. Morehead Jr.
Vase,1967Sto newa re
5 1/4 inches hjgh
26
.h.ve: (hP.klirt Ntnlhat t1
Performi.ng and Visuol Arts Comp
This exhibition benefits from the generous support of the Richard A.
Florsheim Art Fund and from the contributions of Director's Circle
members Jack and Jeffie Rowland. PartiaI support for the exhibi- t,
tions and programs for the Georgia Museum of Art is provid-
ed by the Georgia CounciI for tl-e Arts through appropria-
il
tions of the Georgia General Assembly and the NationaL iii
Endowment for the Arts. A portion of the museum's
generaI operating support for this year has been pro- :
vided through the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, a federal agency that offers general oper-
ating support to the nation's museums. Individuals,
foundations, and corporations provide additiona[ \
support through their gifts to the University of
Georgia Foundation.
The Georgio Museum of Art's hours ore 10 0,m. to 5 p.n. \
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdoy, ond"soturday;10 0.m. to g
p,m. on Friday; ond 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Lex
ohove: CheckList Number 30 .
above right: Checklist Number 2'i\-.