Description

Watering Can by Alan Perry is an everyday object that has been transformed into an elegant, bronze sculpture yet remains a utilitarian piece. The vessel’s design is inspired by the spring garden, specifically the growth of an amaryllis bulb as it emerges from the soil. 1

The spout and handle spring from the body in graceful arcs that recall the delicate tendrils of plants pushing their way out of the soil. The cylindrical bucket is truncated by a slightly rounded, arched element that slopes from top to base. Its polished patina is repeated on the upper sides of the spout and handle. Together with the darker, matte areas of the cylinder and undersides of the spout and handle, this provides an interplay of reflected and absorbed light across the surfaces. The varied, patinated surfaces emphasize the strong sculptural elements of the piece and accentuate the repetition of arcs in the sweeping, delicate forms of the handle, spout, and body of the vessel.

Context and Analysis

As a child in Manchester, Perry took classes at the Currier Art Center. He recalls his ceramics teacher, renowned potter Gerry Williams, asking him why he had chosen to make a pot a particular shape. That simple, yet profound question prompted the artist to embark on a lifelong quest to explore form. As a teenager, Perry studied metalworking with Elizabeth Nutt, a well-respected silversmith at the Manchester Institute of Art (now the New Hampshire Institute of Art). He went on to study with prominent metalwork artists at major centers of design education, including the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he received a bachelor of fine arts degree, and Cranbrook Graduate School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he completed a master of fine arts degree.

Perry begins a work by drawing a series of general sketches, usually based on a natural object. He creates three-dimensional paper models, called maquettes, and then hammers out large, simple forms in metal. He assembles the work with silver solder.

Connections

The passion for the natural world found in Perry’s work can also be traced back to his childhood influences. As a boy, the artist spent time at the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Zimmerman house in Manchester, now part of the Currier Museum. His father, an avid gardener, was friendly with the Zimmermans’ landscape designer, Leon Pearson, and would take his son to visit the house and chart the progress of the gardens.

The Currier collection includes works by Perry’s early mentors, Gerry Williams (two untitled vases, n.d.; Currier, , 1993.19.5) and Elizabeth Nutt (silver pitcher, 1964–65; Currier, 1988.34). The two artists work with very different materials, yet their shared interest in organic form and elegant surface is readily apparent in their work as it is in their student’s. Contemporary silversmiths Michael and Maureen Banner also create functional pieces with a strong sculptural presence. Their teapot Flying Cloud (2009; Currier, 2010.14) reveals an interest in design, craftsmanship, and elegant surface similar to that of Perry’s Watering Can.


Written by Inez E. McDermott

Notes
1 Perry 2014

Bibliography

Falino, Jeannine, ed. Crafting Modernism. New York: Abrams, in association with Museum of Arts and Design, 2011.

Perry, Alan. Interview by Inez McDermott (March 5, 2014).

Perry, Alan. Website: http://www.alanperrymetalsmithing.com (accessed January 10, 2014).