Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • The Collection
  • Projects & Publications
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Image

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 / 5 Next

Ron Nagle

Untitled (Cup), 1981

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Ron Nagle, b. 1939, American

Title

Untitled (Cup)

Year

1981

Medium

Earthenware with paint and glaze

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • glazed earthenware

Dimensions

12.4 x 11.8 x 11.2 cm (4 7/8 x 4 5/8 x 4 7/16 inches)

Type

  • Ceramics

Credit

Marken Scholes Shedd Memorial Fund

Object Number

81.062

Projects & Publications

Publications

On the Surface

Contemporary Ceramics
Read Online

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Building Blocks

May 6, 2011 - March 25, 2012

Ron Nagle’s small-scale ceramic sculptures use complex, layered glazing techniques to create a range of surfaces—from smooth, liquid-like glosses to highly textured matte finishes. The process often involves firing each piece up to twenty times. Untitled, 1981, takes characteristic features of a cup (handle, lip, and foot, for
example) and alters them to the point of negating functionality. Waiting for Jumbot is from Nagle’s “weeorama” series, which evokes miniature tableaux or stage-sets. Its title refers to Samuel Beckett’s seminal play Waiting for Godot, imbuing the lone tiny red cube with a suggestive existential dimension. The title and matte gray glaze also evoke Jumbo, the famous 19th-century circus elephant, adding a note of humor.

Contemporary Decorative Arts from the Permanent Collection

July 7 - October 22, 1995

Contemporary Crafts

January 19 - March 18, 1990

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Untitled (Cup) with the accession number of 81.062. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use