These mugs were made by noted artist and instructor Jack Pharo of 2024 Wichita, Kansas. Incised design with layered glaze has blue interior and blue veil over brown exterior. Signed on bottom. Very good condition with no chips or cracks, some crazing.
Each cup measures approximately 2 3/4" tall x 3 3/8" diameter, 4 3/4" long including handle.
Traditional Chinese teapot available in separate listing.
Biography: John "Jack" Leland Pharo
Born Belpre, Kansas in 1902 and died Manhattan, Kansas, July 8, 1991, John Pharo was a ceramist, lithographer, painter and teacher. He was a pupil of William Dickerson, B.J. O. Nordfeldt, and E. Bruce Moore.
While working for the U.S. Post Office, he joined the Wichita Art Association School as a volunteer in the 1930s. He became a ceramics instructor there in 1947 and head of the ceramics department in 1949, a position he held for 26 years.
He dug and processed his own clay in order to have total control over the pottery process. Pharo worked on multiple wheels and fired pieces three or four times. He retired from the Wichita Art Association in 1973.
SOURCES:
Susan Craig, "Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945)"
Arts in Kansas N.P.: American Association of University Women. Kansas Division. 1958; Belden, Dorothy. “Kansas Artists Known in World”, in Wichita Eagle Beacon, Jan. 29, 1978. p. 12K; Midwestern Artists' Exhibition (Kansas City: Kansas City Art Institute, 1920-1942 Mines, Cynthia. For the Sake of Art: The Story of an Art Movement in Kansas. s.l. Mines, 1979.) 1936, 1937; Wichita Eagle (July 11, 1991); Sandzén files; J. American Art Pottery Association v.9 #2, Mr-Apr. 1994, p.12-15
Product code: Jack Pharo Hand Crafted 2024 Mugs, Matched Pair