Post War & Contemporary Ceramics 
22 February 2024
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 1 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 2 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 3 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 4 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 5 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 6 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 7 of 7
Post War & Contemporary Ceramics 
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 1 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 2 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 3 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 4 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 5 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 6 of 7
Karen Karnes, Collection of four covered vessels - Image 7 of 7
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Karen Karnes

Collection of four covered vessels

USA, c. 1990
salt-glazed stoneware largest: 12¼ h × 10½ dia in (31 × 27 cm) smallest: 4½ h × 5 dia in (11 × 13 cm)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $1,890
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Impressed artist's chop mark to each example ‘KK’ and incised date to two examples ‘PCS 1990’. Sold with a digital copy of the invoice from Swan Gallery.
provenance: Swan Gallery, Philadelphia | Important Philadelphia Estate

This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.

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Seven Things to Know about Karen Karnes

Karen Karnes. Courtesy of Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina


Karnes was born in 1925 to poor Russian and Polish immigrant garment workers.

She studied at the High School of Music and Art in New York, and then Brooklyn College where she earned a design degree in 1946.

After graduating she worked as a design craftsman at a factory where she discovered her interest in clay. She studied abroad in Italy for a year and then earned a fellowship to study ceramics at Alfred University in New York.

In the 1960s, she became well-known for creating a flameproof casserole that could be used directly on the stove.

Karnes moved to rural Vermont in 1979, built a kiln, and established a studio practice. She remained there for the remainder of her career.

In 1976 she was named to the American Craft Council's College of Fellows and in 1998 was recognized with their highest honor, the Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship.

She was the recipient of countless awards and honors, including a Medal of Excellence (1990) from the Society of Arts & Crafts in Boston, a National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Honorary Membership (1980), and a Craftsman’s Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (1976).

Form had been my primary interest all the time and I was just looking for a way to cover the surface...For that, salt is marvelous because it gives a beautiful skin to a pot that can be both quiet and exciting.

Karen Karnes

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