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Cowboy Boots by William Wilhelmi / American Art
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Cowboy Boots

1980 William Wilhelmi Born: Garwin, Iowa 1939 slip-cast, airbrushed-underglaze and glazed porcelain with gold lusters left boot: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 4 in. (36.2 x 26.0 x 10.2 cm) right boot: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 4 1/8 in. (36.2 x 26.0 x 10.5 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the artist 1981.107A-B Smithsonian American Art Museum
4th Floor, Luce Foundation Center



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Cowboy Boots



Bill Wilhelmi designed this pair of porcelain cowboy boots specifically for the Renwick Gallery show, American Porcelain: New Expressions in an Ancient Art. The artist was inspired to begin casting ceramic cowboy boots after seeing a collection of authentic footwear. This pair of boots is unique because it was the first that Wilhelmi modeled in porcelain. They were cast from an actual pair and as a result exhibit signs of aging in the creased porcelain at the ankles. The wing tips on the toes of the shoes, as well as the heels, are glazed with a gold luster, and the boots are airbrushed with an evening desert landscape.

For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.


Keywords

Landscape - celestial - star

Landscape - desert

Landscape - plant - cactus

Landscape - weather - cloud

decorative arts - ceramic

Crafts - Clay

ceramic - porcelain

rubber

About William Wilhelmi

Born: Garwin, Iowa 1939

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William Wilhelmi

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