Grotesque Jug
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 22.7 x 29.5 cm (8 15/16 x 11 5/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 7 1/4" High 4 1/2" Dia(base) Neck 1 1/2"(Dia)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.7396
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Grotesque Jug*, captivating 1936 watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil by Yolande Delasser, measuring 22.7 x 29.5 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD)—a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1942—this work meticulously documents a folk pottery vessel standing 7¼ inches tall with a 4½-inch base diameter and slender 1½-inch neck. Delasser's precise depiction captures the jug's whimsical, exaggerated form, evoking the playful "grotesque" style popular in 19th-century American ceramics, where fanciful faces and distortions added charm to everyday o...
About the Artist
Yolande Delasser
Yolande Delasser was an American artist active during the mid-1930s, best known for her meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Amid the Great Depression, this ambitious New Deal initiative commissioned artists to document America's rich heritage of folk art and utilitarian objects through precise watercolor ren...