Courage doesn’t have anything to do with becoming an artist. It’s just something you want to do. I think it’s inside you.
Mary Scheier
Husband and wife duo Edwin and Mary Scheier enjoyed a prolific and prodigious career that spanned nearly six decades. Their lifelong collaboration began in the late 1930s when they worked for the federal Works Progress Administration. Not long after, the two married and then spent a year as traveling puppeteers before obtaining the opportunity to study ceramics at the Tennessee Valley Authority Ceramic Laboratory. The rest, as they say, is history; the couple fell in love with pottery, Mary becoming incredibly adept at throwing pots, and Edwin at glazing and decoration.
In 1940 they relocated to Durham, New Hampshire at the behest of architect David R. Campbell to work at the University of New Hampshire, where Edwin taught and Mary was artist-in-residence. They settled in and stayed for nearly thirty years, garnering a dedicated following of students and clients, and periodically taking trips to Oaxaca, Mexico to soak up the ancient culture and design. Edwin and Mary moved to Oaxaca full-time in the late 1960s where they lived and worked for nearly ten years before making their final move to Green Valley, Arizona. While in Oaxaca, Edwin branched out into weavings and sculpture, working in indigenous guanacaste wood and designing tapestries that were then woven by local craftspeople.
The Scheiers developed a distinctive style that, though it evolved over time, is immediately recognizable. Common themes ranged from biblical to pre-Columbian to abstract, drawing from their many travels and exposure to different cultures and styles. Mary’s thin-walled, elegantly shaped vessels illustrate her mastery of the wheel and her admiration for Japanese and Chinese ceramic traditions, while Edwin’s abstract designs display a nuanced understanding of fine art balanced with a playfulness reflecting his sense of humor. Their individual strengths combined into a dynamic synergism of form and decoration. The couple continued to work and create even into the last decade of their lives. In fact, when Edwin was forced to give up throwing pots due to his health, he acquired a computer and began making computer drawings using similar themes to those of his pots.
Through their tireless dedication to their craft, this impressive duo left behind an indelible imprint on the development and history of American ceramics. Their work can be found in the permanent collections of many important institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Upcoming Lots Edwin and Mary Scheier
100
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early bowl
101
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Monumental chalice form
102
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early vessel
103
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Tall chalice form
104
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Rare and Early charger
105
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large vessel
106
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early bowl
107
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Monumental chalice form
108
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Chalice form
109
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Rare and Early charger
110
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Chalice form
111
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early plate
112
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early bowl
113
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early and Large charger
114
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Rare and Early bowl
115
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early plate
116
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early vessel
117
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early low bowl
118
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early footed bowls, set of two
119
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early low bowl
120
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early bowl
121
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early charger
122
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early vessel
123
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large serving plate
124
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Collection of three bowls
Auction Results Edwin and Mary Scheier
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine tall early vase
result: $8,750
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine large early vessel
result: $8,125
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine large early ovoid vessel
result: $5,625
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine large coupe
result: $5,313
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine large early vessel
result: $5,313
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Tall chalice form
result: $4,375
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large chalice form
result: $3,750
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Charger
result: $3,250
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Tall chalice form
result: $3,072
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Charger
result: $3,000
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Fine large lidded coupe
result: $2,750
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large footed bowl
result: $2,750
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large bowl
result: $2,750
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large chalice form
result: $2,500
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large early charger
result: $2,375
Edwin and Mary Scheier
charger
result: $2,375
Edwin and Mary Scheier
vessel with heads
result: $2,304
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Weaving of a nude figure
result: $2,250
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large vessel
result: $2,250
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Large chalice form
result: $2,125
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early and Large bowl
result: $2,000
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early vessel
result: $2,000
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Tall early vase
result: $2,000
Edwin and Mary Scheier
Early chalice form
result: $1,875