Kay Hackett was an artist and
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...
designer most known for her work for
Stangl Pottery.
Personal life
Kay Hackett, born Kathleen Kay Kastner in 1919, grew up in
Batavia,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
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Places United Kingdom
* ...
.
Her talent as an artist was noticed early on by two townspeople in Batavia who provided Kay with the necessary funds for art lessons when she was a teen.
She later enrolled at
New York State College of Ceramics
The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (NYSCC) is a statutory college of the State University of New York located on the campus of Alfred University in Alfred, New York
Alfred is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town ...
at
Alfred University
Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...
to study ceramic design.
Kay married Martin Hackett in 1944 and had two sons, Pat and Dave. She and Martin divorced in 1947. Hackett died in 2016 at the age of 96 in
North Hanover,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
.
Stangl
Kay had early success selling her ceramic designs to potteries. Betty Stangl, a fellow undergraduate at Alfred University and daughter of Stangl Pottery Vice President Martin Stangl, suggested to her father that he should hire Kay. Stangl was particularly interested in Kay's thesis on the glazing of red clay - which would become a key element in the company's future success.
When Kay graduated at twenty-one, she initially turned down Stangl's $20/week proposal, holding out until she was offered $25/week.
Her first dinnerware production for Stangl Pottery, called ''Verna'', went into production less than a year after she started at the company. Kay went on to create designs ''Tulip'' and ''Fruit'' later that same year. The latter being one of the most popular designs in Stangl Pottery history.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Kay left Stangl Pottery to work for
General Motor's Eastern Aircraft division in
Trenton.
There she created line drawings for repair manuals for the
Grumman Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...
airplane. She returned to Stangl in 1948, and continued until 1965, when she and her husband started a joint antique business.
Kay is credited with designing forty Stangl dinnerware patterns that were put into production.
She additionally designed over 100 artware and novelty products for the company. Her designs were often nature based and all were hand-painted.
Legacy
In 2017, the
Trenton City Museum mounted a retrospective of Kay's work. The exhibition paid special attention to one of her most famous designs, ''Thistle'', which was manufactured by Stangl from 1951 to 1967.
A cup and saucer designed by Kay titled ''Lyric'' is housed in the
Museum of Fine Art, Boston's collection.
See also
*
Stangl Pottery
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Kay
American women ceramists
1919 births
2016 deaths