Mar 30, Mar 31, Apr 1, Apr 2, Apr 3, 2010

10 am - 5 pm Tue/Wed/Fri. 10 am - 8:30 pm Thu. 9 am - 5 pm Sat. Free admission on Thursdays. The Imperial Porcelain Corporation of Zanesville manufactured functional and decorative ceramics between about 1945 and 1960. The 43 pieces of Imperial Porcelain in the exhibition were donated by Mrs. Margaret LeMaster, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Fred Phillips, who had been investors in the Imperial Porcelain Corporation. Imperial made two series of whimsical figures based on popular American cartoon characters of the 1930's and 1940's. These were the Dogpatch Series, based on Al Capp's Li'l Abner cartoons, and the Paul Webb Mountain Boys Series, based on the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys cartoons done for Esquire and The New Yorker Magazine. Both series reflected 1920's stereotypes of rural Appalachian dwellers as lazy, ignorant, violent, and ill-kempt. Webb and Capp, however, took the stereotypes and reconstructed them as comical in a broad but very human manner, and as independent, resourceful, and strongly devoted to family and friends. The cartoon characters were translated into porcelain by P. H. Genter, General Manager of Imperial. The figures were cast, fired, hand-painted, and packaged at the Zanesville plant. Most of the pieces in collection were made in 1947. Included in the exhibition will be examples of other Imperial Series, including the American Folklore Series.

Arts/Music/Film
Family Oriented