Thursday, August 3, 2017

Big Ceramic

I bought a dirty, ceramic nursery lamp ($3) at the thrift store, stamped DUNCAN ENTERPRISES 1979.

It washed up fine, but the giraffe has a broken ... horn? (Are they horns giraffes have?) I'm hoping my artist friend Laura can build a prosthetic horn from polymer clay for it, when she's back from Glacier. [Laura? Are you reading this?]

I mostly got it for the insouciant gaze of the dog on the back-side of the lamp (as if you've interrupted it rummaging in the garbage and it'll thank you to let it get back to it), but I'm not sure I want to keep this rather unwieldy lamp. It probably needs rewiring too.

I am enjoying it, for the moment--and enjoying reading up on Duncan Enterprises, most especially their funky building in Fresno, with impressive ceramic medallions from 1969, by the potter Stan Bitters (whose chunky, earthy works have come back in style):

Below: close up of a medallion, where you can see it was built piece by piece.

5 comments:

Bink said...

The animals on the lamp are VERY cute! But the girls/tutus/clown...ugh. Some little girl who loves her tutu would probably love this however.

Frex said...

To answer my own question:
"Giraffe ‘horns’ are not actually called horns but ‘ossicones’ and both female and male giraffe have them. Ossicones are formed from ossified cartilage and are covered in skin."

Frex said...

BINK: I think that tutu-wearing clown could induce coulrophobia (fear of clowns)!

Unknown said...

I just got the same one from a Di too. My question is, Does anyone know price range this is worth?

Fresca said...

UNKNOWN: Sorry, I don't now its price range.