Raul Coronel

This is an American Mid-Century sculptural bottle form by Modernist Master Ceramist, Raul Coronel, who made pots, lamps, sculptures, fountains, ceramic murals and architectural elements from 1956 until 1985 in Southern California. This piece is about 22 inches tall. According to Raul, this is an important piece because it marks the point that he diverged from making strictly functional items and began exploring more sculptural forms. It is signed by hand in script "raul '59". It is a thrown and altered form. Raul is now 84, and has not made pottery since 1985. He has authored a book titled "An Idol for Sheila Machen" which is a tongue in cheek murder mystery built around the career of a successful mid-century potter (his career, thinly disguised). It is quite interesting for the behind-the-scenes insight it provides of the period and lifestyle of the "swinging 60's" from Hollywood to Malibu. He is currently working on a second novel.

This is a photo of Raul in his studio circa 1958.
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very interesting,did he spend time in Scandinavia?

fabulous to learn more about American pottery at last - thanks Calusa!

Thanks, I don't think he actually spent time in Scandinavia, but he mentioned that he won a design award from a Scandinavian group in the 50's or 60's.

the forms and some of the designs are of Scandinavian origin but other designs seem to be South American?

Dan, Good call. He is originally from Mexico, immigrated to the U.S. when he was 14 and during his career he drew from a variety of sources. Much of his later work reflects distinctly Meso-American influences, though his mature abstract sculptures appear to be patently original in style. In the 1950's he studied with some of the really big names in the American studio pottery movement, including F. Carlton Ball, Marguerite Wildenhain, and Peter Voulkos.

Here are two more pieces by Raul Coronel. They are both lamp bases, though I have stripped out the lamp works and display them as bottles. Each is about 22 inches tall. The blue piece was done in 1958, the glaze was referred to as "Peacock" and was a custom order that took 3 firings (note the similarity to the piece he is holding in front of the kiln in the studio photo). I found it in a flea market and bought it for $55 (US), current retail is about $2200. The other has an abstract design painted with engobes. It was done in 1962. Both are signed "raul" with a date. This type of work was done to order in Raul's studio with a hole in the bottom, then sent to the client who added a wooden base and top, fitted the lamp works and provided it to a third party retailer.

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Absolutely stunning! My eyes are opening to American studio pottery this week

and yes the piece in the black and white photo could easily be your bottle vase

I recently acquired this fabulous stoneware floor lamp (circa 1960's) by Raul Coronel. I haven't had it apart to see if it is signed, but I bought it directly from Raul, who said there were only 6 or 7 of these produced. It is pictured in his catalog from the period, and in 1968 they sold for $135 (USD). At the same time I bought one of his first tile wall pieces from the 1950's and a large figural sculpture (which had suffered significant damage that I am in the process of restoring--I'll post when I'm finished). I count myself proud and quite lucky to be his friend.
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his carved pieces seem to have an easily recognisable style,would you agree calusa?

Yeah, I agree Dan, he seems to have used a limited visual vocabulary of simple lines and cutouts, that when recombined form more complex patterns; but once you become familiar with his basic shapes the work seems quite recognizable. I have seen literally hundreds of pieces in his photo archives and there is a bit more variation that we have seen here, but it all remains consistent and well within his stylistic parameters. In the 1980's however, he opened a new studio in Venice, California and while still turning out some of the earlier designs, he devoted himself primarily to abstract modernist sculptures as well as a series of one hundred 24 inch diameter chargers with glaze painted decorations that ranged from Diego Rivera references, floral and abstract designs, to a Mayan warrior dressed in a business suit and tie (I've attached a pic of one of the sculptures and one of the chargers). When he moved to Mexico in about 1986, he donated all the remaining work in his possession to charities and such, to be sold to provide educational opportunities. He returned to the US about 1995 with only two small bowls that he made. A relative recently reminded him though, that he had left three pieces with her that he had forgotten to reclaim. He called me and asked if I wanted to buy them....

do you think Raul might allow us to see some of his photo's?

Absolutely! I have about 100 of his photos as jpgs, as I was helping him process his archives recently. I have full permission to use them (he is actually rather delighted that I started this post). I have pics of Raul working, pots, sculptures, murals, architectural elements, furniture, his studio/showroom, his beautiful home, installations, etc. What would you like to see? Should I post some? Well here's a couple, the first is a sculptural piece that is one of my favorites; the second is an installation he was commissioned to do for a law firm in a space where they wanted to have plants but were unable to because of poor lighting conditions, so Raul created this "garden" of "spacey" modern organic shapes.