Oak Leaf Bowl on Plinth

Oak Leaf Bowl on Plinth

Holzapfel, Michelle, 1951-

MH_272

1987

A lathe-turned bowl-within-a-bowl form, The inner surface is polished, the outer surface carved off-lathe to resemble overlapping oak leaves. The base is carved as a pleated plinth. Tung oil finish.

Maple burl wood, 6 x 15 x 15 inches.

Turning (Lathe work)

Wood sculpture, American

Women and the decorative arts

Carving (Decorative arts)

Art woodwork

Women artists--United States

Decoration and ornament--Plant forms

Decoration and ornament, Architectural, in art

Holzapfel, Michelle, 1951-

Studio Wood Art

1987

Copyright © 2019 by Michelle Holzapfel
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2001 “Wood Turning in North America Since 1930” catalogue for the exhibit. The Wood Turning Center and Yale University Art Gallery. ISBN: 0-89467-095-6 cloth. . LCC 2001 132602.
p. 123

Glenn Adamson's commentary: "As a child, Michelle Holzapfel was attracted to her father's metal lathe and the spiny brass shavings flying from the cabinet door pulls he turned on it. Holzapfel still turns on her father's lathe. Unlike a hand-turning lathe, the cutting tool of a metal lathe is held in a sliding tool rest. The cutting process is accomplished by rotating gear handles, which move the cutting tool on an "x" and "y" axis. With dexterity, Holzapfel is able to use the lathe freehand to create compound curves. The elegance of form that she achieves with this technique is evident in Oakleaf Bowl, one of a series of monumental vessels based on classical architectural ornament. Holzapfel took most of her cues for the layout of the carved composition from the natural voids, cracks, and grain lines of the wood." p. 123.

wood

1989 Wood Turning Center, Albert LeCoff made contact with Jonathan Fairbanks at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, which acquired the piece. Gift of Mr. & Mrs. William White Howells, 1989.328.

2001 “Wood Turning in North America Since 1930” exhibit tour.
2001: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN>
2002: Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.
2002: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

Holzapfel, Michelle, 1951-
Collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, MA.
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. William White Howells, 1989.328.