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Ann Agee

Red Stripe Madonna with Drawer

Maker

Ann Agee (American, b.1959)

Title

Red Stripe Madonna with Drawer

Year

2021

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

94 x 21.6 x 19.1 cm (37 x 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches) (installed)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2021.97

Type

Exhibition History

Trading Earth
Ceramics, Commodities, and Commerce
Apr 09, 2022 – Aug 03, 2025

Label copy

Championing the status of utilitarian and decorative works as equal to those in any other media in the historical canon of Western art, Ann Agee’s works elevate everyday domestic objects, such as ceramics, and the people-especially women-who create them. Holding a female infant, the artist’s Madonna sits on a pedestal with a drawer, referencing reliquaries made to hold precious objects. This work draws on Agee’s interest in Italian Renaissance ceramics, including cellars made for salt, a very costly commodity at that time.

Agee’s Madonna is branded with the mark of a fictitious enterprise-Agee Manufacturing Company-alluding to machine-made mass-produced wares that erase human presence in the act of making. Similarly, the people who labor to produce salt and other commodities are often rendered invisible to consumers.

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Ann Agee (American, b.1959)
Red Stripe Madonna with Drawer, 2021
Earthenware with glaze and underglaze
94 x 21.6 x 19.1 cm (37 x 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches) (installed)
Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund 2021.97

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