
Nicholas (Nick) Vergette (1923–1974) was a British potter and sculptor, who produced ceramic murals and figurative works for architectural settings during the 1950s and 1960s.
[Sandra Alfoldy "Crafting Identity: The Development of Professional Fine Craft in Canada", published by McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaka, 1969, p.37. ] He was Professor of Art at the
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...
, School of Art and Design from 1960 to 1974.
Biography
Vergette was born in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
in 1923. He studied pottery under
Dora Billington
Dora May Billington (1890–1968) was an English teacher of Ceramic art, pottery, a writer and a studio pottery, studio potter. Her own work explored the possibilities of painting on pottery. As head of the pottery department at the Central Sc ...
at the
Central School of Art and Design
The Central School of Art and Design was a school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
...
in London.
In Britain during the 1950s Vergette,
Alan Caiger-Smith
Alan Caiger-Smith MBE (8 February 1930 – 21 February 2020) was a British ceramicist, studio potter and writer on pottery.
Life and work
Caiger-Smith was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts ...
,
Margaret Hine and others including the Rye Pottery made tin-glazed pottery, going against the trend in studio pottery towards
stoneware
Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...
. They all were given the name of "Piccassettes" by the studio potter and art teacher
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979) was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".
Biography
Early years (Japan)
Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (n� ...
.
In the early 1950s Newland, Hine and Vergette "formed something of a coterie", sharing a studio in
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
and exhibitions at the
Crafts Centre and the Studio Club in
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
. The three of them also had participated in a holiday in Spain in 1949 where they "went to Malaga and studied throwing and tin-glaze techniques".
Vergette emigrated to the United States in 1957. From 1960 to 1974 he served as Professor of Art at the School of Art and Design of the
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...
.
Vergette died of cancer in 1974, two months after completing "Here", a large sculpture piece on the
SIU campus.
Reception
Dora Billington in her 1953 article "The Younger English Potters" in ''The Studio'' noted:
Darren Dean in a 1994 article entitled ''William Newland, Margaret Hine and Nicholas Vergette, 1949-1954'' concluded:
Donhauser (1978) recalled, that "
Dirk Hubers and Nicolas Vergette are two examples of potters who, through their distinctive form language, added to the diversity of style and attitudes which comprised the American studio-pottery scene during the 1950s."
[Paul S. Donhauser (1978), ''History of American Ceramics: The Studio Potter.'' p, 125]
References
External links
Vergette Galleryat cola.siu.edu.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vergette, Nicholas
1923 births
1974 deaths
20th-century British ceramists
Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design
Artists from Lincolnshire
English ceramicists
English emigrants to the United States
English male sculptors
English sculptors
People from Lincolnshire
Southern Illinois University faculty