Photography: Kat Teutsch, Styling and Art Direction: Marcus Hay for SMH, Inc
Out takes from the shoot, Photography: Marcus Hay for SMH, Inc
For the July issue of Better Homes & Gardens, Marcus was asked to pair up once again with the wonderful Photographer Kat Teutsch to work on a series of color trend related stories. You can see more to follow in the comings months. This time the subject matter was Golden Yellows.
Being a big fan of vintage Bennington Pottery from Vermont, When asked to work on a potting themed golden yellow theme, Bennington Potters was the first to spring to mind. Bennington Pottery was founded more than a half century ago by the young potter named David Gil. A graduate of Alfred University, which was renowned even then for its ceramics program, Gil relocated from New York City to Vermont beginning his life work there in 1948. Starting out in small barn with the business originally named Cooperative Design, In 1961 David Gil moved the business into a larger premises in Vermont where it still lives today and he re named it simply Bennington Potters.
During his career, David distinguished himself as a designer with an ability to fuse contemporary forms with historic references, Although he valued handcraft and high aesthetic standards, he also embraced mechanization, Although largely an artist some forms were directly aimed at the commercial market.
David and Bennington focused heavily on cooperative designs and while the company was steered by David Gil’s vision, Yusuke Aida, A Japanese potter designed many of the classic Bennington silhouettes (As featured above) in conjunction with David Gil from the period of 1961-1964. You can see this collaboration and Japanese influence in the designs that still look strikingly modern over 48 years later.