Rookwood Pottery Company

Something Wicked C0471

Inventory Number
C0471Size
38” H x 26 ½” WMaterial
powdered pigments on cast plasterCountry of Origin
United StatesYear Made
1901

Description

Rookwood Pottery, an American firm that employed exceptionally talented sculptors and decorators, produced ceramic wares and architectural faience in a variety of styles. This example, commissioned for a Cincinnati gentleman’s club, illustrates the the moment when Shakespeare's Macbeth braving a violent thunderstorm, approaches three witches at their cauldron (Act IV, Scene I). Sensing his arrival, the Second Witch warns her sisters:
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes."
This theatrical composition was intended foe viewers with a taste for art, literature, and the macabre. Specially treated and colored to suggest a foul and fetid atmosphere, the relief is skillfully modeled and richly detailed.