Eric Norstad Mid Century Modern Studio Pottery Brown Bathroom Sink Architectural

Details

Description

Eric Norstad trained as an architect before he became a ceramicist. That fact is the key to understanding this piece.

… Read more Eric Norstad trained as an architect before he became a ceramicist. That fact is the key to understanding this piece.

Most studio potters make objects for the table or the shelf. Norstad made functional wares — platters, vessels, ashtrays — that carried the weight of his architectural sensibility in every form he built. A bathroom sink is the most direct expression of that sensibility imaginable: a functional object, designed to be built into a space, to be used every day, to be lived with rather than displayed. That Norstad made one — and signed it — is entirely consistent with who he was as an artist and entirely extraordinary as a find.

This is a drop-in or vessel style sink in brown studio pottery glaze, signed Eric Norstad on the base. Excellent condition — no chips, no cracks. A piece that has been preserved rather than installed, which means it arrives exactly as it left his Corte Madera studio.

This is not a decorative object that happens to look like a sink. It is a signed, functional work of art by a documented California studio ceramicist with an established exhibition record and a growing collector market — designed to live in a bathroom the way a Norstad platter lives on a table. With complete commitment and complete intention.

For the serious collector of California studio ceramics, the architect or designer building a space around an extraordinary object, or anyone who understands that the most interesting room in a house is sometimes the one nobody expects.

Measurements
Height (drain base to rim): 8.5 inches

Width (side to side):
17.25 inches outer rim
14.5 inches inner basin

Depth (front to back):
17.25 inches outer rim
14.5 inches inner basin

Details
Artist: Eric Norstad (1924–2013)
Origin: Northern California
Era: Mid-Century Modern
Material: Hand-thrown high-fired stoneware
Glaze: Brown with brown variations on the interior motif
Condition: small chips on the surface of the underside drain (see images), no cracks or repairs
Center drain; compatible with modern plumbing standards
Norstad ceramic sinks were tested and approved under the Uniform Plumbing Code by the International Association of Plumbing Officials. See less