- Home
- Decor
- Room Accents & Accessories
- Vessels & Vases
- Vases
- Polia Pillin Ball Vase
Or save it to favorites and we'll tell you if this item goes on sale!
- Get the Chairish App
- to view in your space
Polia Pillin Ball Vase
- Get the Chairish App
- to view in your space
Details
Description
A beautiful hand painted ball vase featuring a motif of animals and a woman on a blue ground by renowned …
more
A beautiful hand painted ball vase featuring a motif of animals and a woman on a blue ground by renowned Polish American ceramicist Polia Pillin.
POLIA PILLIN was born Polia Sukonic in Częstochowa Poland in 1909. She immigrated to the United States in 1924 at the age of 15. She made her home in Chicago and worked long hours in the garment district. She spent her evenings at the local Jewish Peoples Institute learning both painting and sculpture. In 1927 she met William Pillin, a Ukrainian immigrant who was just one year younger than Polia. Before that year was out they were married.
William had always had hopes of becoming a published poet, and his opportunity came during the Depression. He was hired through the WPA Writers Project, and his work brought him all across the United States. In 1936, they moved to an undeveloped 16-acre property in the Espaniola Valley near Albuquerque. The living conditions here were harsh and primitive, but they found the isolation inspiring. However, with the arrival of their son in 1940, the Pillins saw a need to return to civilization, and they moved back to Chicago.
William quickly found a position in the book business which brought in enough money to support the family. This allowed Polia the opportunity to explore her art, mostly paintings with watercolors or oils. Her work slowly began to become noticed, and she displayed a one-woman show at the Chicago Art Institute. It was during her showing there that she noticed pottery on display and became fascinated by the medium.
Aside from the night classes Polia had taken in the late 1920s, the only other formal training she received was in Chicago at the Hull House in 1946. She took a six-week course in ceramics there and fired pieces in their kilns until it was shut down. She then moved her fledgling pottery business to their apartment, with a pottery wheel and an improvised kiln in the kitchen. There was nowhere near the space required for a pottery business, so in 1948 the Pillins moved to Los Angeles. There they purchased a modest home with a garage. In this garage, Polia taught William how to throw and form pottery and the Pillin Art Pottery Company was born.
Polia used engobe and glaze techniques to create mid-century motifs painted onto hand-thrown pottery such as pots, vases, plates, bowls, etc., with the majority of subjects involving women, horses, cats, fishes, and other animals. Her work has been described as Byzantine in style, with similarities to the work of Chagall. But of course, the work of Polia Pillin is flavored with her own unique artistic vision.
Although the vast majority of the pottery produced by Polia Pillin was from California beginning in 1948, there are examples from her kitchen studio in Chicago from 1946 and 1947. These rare examples will usually be inscribed with a 46 or 47 for the year, and they are typically incised with the Pillin signature.
Some pieces can be found with an inscribed "W + P" above the Pillin signature. This was an early indication that William had thrown the piece and Polia had decorated it, a practice that became commonplace for decades.
The vast majority of Pillin Pottery is marked with her iconic "Pillin" signature in black. There was a small amount of variation and evolution in the signature, so a very close inspection can sometimes reveal approximate periods when the piece was likely produced. This however does not appear to have much bearing on the value of any particular piece in the marketplace. Collectors tend to buy what they like with little regard as to whether it is an early piece or a later piece. In general, the earlier pieces tend to be thicker in construction.
There have been reports of fake pendants occasionally appearing in the marketplace. They appear to be "one-offs" and not part of a widespread operation. Most collectors who are familiar with her work can identify them as fakes immediately. Nearly all Pillin pottery is made from a very distinctive red brick-colored clay.
Well over 95% of Polia Pillin's ceramic work is highly crazed. This is actually quite predictable, as her studio did not have a team of chemists and the equipment available to larger commercial operations. Those few pieces which come to the market uncrazed can sometimes command multiples of the expected price for a comparable piece with average crazing.
Polia made her last known piece in 1991, a year before her death in 1992. William had died years earlier in 1985. No production records were ever kept, and most pieces were unique, so no catalog of her work would ever be complete. The total output of pottery from Polia is hard even to estimate, but certainly no more than 10,000 in total. The actual number is probably much lower.
Today, pottery from Polia Pillin is becoming increasingly scarce as collectors snatch up examples as often as they appear. With great appeal to decorators of mid-century modern styles, the prices have been driven upward sharply. Her unique style is striking a chord with collectors and helping to establish the Pillin Art Pottery as one of the premier American studio art potteries of the 20th Century.
less
- Dimensions
- 4ʺW × 4ʺD × 4ʺH
- Artist
- Polia Pillin
- Designer
- Poila Pillin
- Period
- 1950s
- Country of Origin
- United States
- Item Type
- Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned
- Materials
- Ceramic
- Condition
- Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections
- Color
- Blue
- Condition Notes
- EXCELLENT VINTAGE CONDITION EXCELLENT VINTAGE CONDITION less
Need more product details?
Shipping Options
Standard Returns & Cancellations
Return Policy - All sales are final 48 hours after delivery, unless otherwise specified in the description of the product.
Extended Return for Trade
- Expands return window for trade members to 14 days (12 days more than our standard return policy)
- Trade member to notify Chairish of intent to return within 14 days of item delivery
- Buyer refunded item cost. Buyer pays return shipping cost
- Does not apply to damages that occur post-delivery
Questions about the item?
Related Collections
- Swung Vases
- Poole Pottery Vases
- Hand Blown Glass Vases
- Vintage Italian Glass Vases
- California Pottery Vases
- Ikebana Vases
- Cristal d' Arques Vases
- Enzo Mari Vases
- Egyptian Vases
- Hand Painted Vases
- Jacopo Simonetti Vases
- Swung Glass Vases
- Rare Vases
- Stevens and Williams Vases
- Tobia Scarpa Vases
- Crystal Mikasa Vases
- Stuben Vases
- Port 68 Vases
- Michael Andersen and Son Vases
- Longwy Vases
- Cambridge Glass Company Vases
- Flygsfors Vases
- Antique Bronze Finish Vases
- Nuutajarvi Notsjo Vases
- Thomas Webb and Sons Vases
Returns
- Does not arrive
- Is broken during transit
- Is entirely different than what you purchased
- Some made-to-order items and a limited selection of other items (noted as non-refundable in the returns and cancellations section of the product description)
-
Orders where Free Local Pickup or Seller Managed Local Delivery were selected:
- Upon inspection, If you decide not to move forward with the purchase, you or your agent must refuse the item at the time of pickup/delivery from the seller
- Once you have taken possession of the item, all sales are final
- International, cross-border returns may require different processes depending on the countries between which the item is shipping to/from, and the buyer is responsible and duties (if applicable, on cross-border orders).
- On approved returns, the buyer is responsible for the full cost of return packing and shipping.
Cancellations
- Prior to shipping or local pickup, buyers may cancel an order for any reason, with the exception of some Made-to-Order items, where supplies have been purchased or work begun on the item.
- Please notify us within 24 hours of purchase if you would like to cancel an order, as prompt cancellation will reduce the likelihood that you will incur return shipping charges.
- Once shipping or pickup has been initiated, the cancellation will be considered a return and you will be responsible for the cost of shipping.
Shipping
Note: Made-to-Order items typically include a lead time or custom delivery window that is added to the delivery time.
- Chairish Express In-Home Delivery
- Chairish Express In-Home deliveries are currently only offered for international cross-border shipments.
- The item will be delivered to your home and placed in the desired room. The delivery service includes unpacking, inspecting, and removing packaging materials; and does not include installation or setting up the item.
- Shipping charges start at $999 and vary based on the size, weight, packaging, and/or the value of the item.
- Deliveries can take anywhere from 6 to 9 weeks to be delivered.
- Chairish Freight Delivery
- Delivered in a crate, to your front door.
- You will need tools and/or equipment to open the crate.
- Shipping charges start at $799 and vary based on the size, weight, packaging, and/or the value of the item.
- Chairish Freight deliveries can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks.
- Only available in selected markets.
- Chairish In-Home Delivery
- The item will be delivered to your home and placed in the desired room. The delivery service includes unpacking, inspecting, and removing packaging materials; and does not include installation or setting up the item.
-
Shipping charges start at $149 and based on the size and the distance between pickup and delivery
(for approximate values see table):
Delivery Type Within 50 miles radius Within 1,500 miles radius Over 1,500 miles radius International Cross-Border Shipping Price $149 - $299 $199 - $799 $449 - $899 Over $899 Transit Time 2 to 4 weeks 3 to 6 weeks 4 to 8 weeks 12 to 17 weeks - For some items, the shipping price may vary depending on the size, weight, material and/or value of the item.
- Free Local Pickup
- Local pickup allows customers to inspect an item at the time of pickup and avoid shipping costs.
- Following purchase, a confirmation email is sent to the email address associated with the order, and includes: Pickup Verification & Seller's contact information
- Please contact the seller within 5 days to coordinate pickup
- Once the item has been picked up (by you or your representative) it cannot be returned or refunded.
- Free Shipping
- Free shipping may be offered on select listings.
- Smaller items are typically delivered within 2 weeks of the purchase date, while larger items and furniture may take up to 6 weeks for delivery.
- When an item with Free Shipping is returned, the cost of return shipping fees will be charged to the buyer.
- Parcel Delivery
- Shipment is arranged through recognized carriers such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL.
- Only pieces that can be safely packed in a box or envelope may be shipped via parcel.
- Shipping charges start at $9 — and vary based on the size, weight, packaging and the value of the item.
Delivery Type US Domestic International Cross-Border Shipping Price $9 - $99 $39 - $499 Transit Time 1 to 2 weeks 2 to 4 weeks - Seller Managed Delivery
- Shipping is offered and managed by the seller, through a shipper of the seller’s choice.
- Available on items at the seller’s discretion.
- Seller Managed Local Delivery
- Local curbside delivery is offered and managed by the seller, within a limited geography.
- Following purchase, a confirmation email is sent to the confirmation email address associated with the order, and includes: Pickup Verification Code & Seller’s contact information
- Please contact the seller within 5 days to coordinate delivery.
The Chairish Buyer Guarantee
Make an Offer
Fees and shipping costs will be calculated in the next step
Have questions about how offers work? Learn more or .
Flag this comment for moderation?