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Ron Nagle

Waiting for Jumbot

Maker

Ron Nagle (American, b. 1939)

Title

Waiting for Jumbot

Year

2009

Medium

  • Earthenware with glaze

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Earthenware with glaze

Materials

clay products

Geography

Place Made: Western

Dimensions

12.1 x 16.5 x 9.5 cm (4 3/4 x 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Purchased with funds donated by Yvette Boisclair and Mark Mandell in honor of Judith Tannenbaum

Object Number

2009.94

Type

  • Sculpture

Exhibition History

Stranger Than Paradise
Jul 14, 2017 – Feb 25, 2018

Label copy

Waiting for Jumbot is part of Nagle’s ongoing Thin Fins series of ceramic scenes, developed between 1998 and 2002 and from 2007 to the present. Here a red cube-like form is placed a pinkish-gray stage-like setting that also resembles the ledge of a mountain. The work’s title and the cube’s isolation and the rough gray texture surrounding it suggest Samuel Beckett’s existentialist drama Waiting for Godot, as well as the famous 19th-century circus elephant, Jumbo.

Building Blocks
Contemporay Works from the Collection
May 06, 2011 – Mar 25, 2012

Label copy

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.

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Ron Nagle (American, b. 1939)
Waiting for Jumbot, 2009
Earthenware with glaze
12.1 x 16.5 x 9.5 cm (4 3/4 x 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches)
Purchased with funds donated by Yvette Boisclair and Mark Mandell in honor of Judith Tannenbaum 2009.94

To request 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.

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