Earning Our Stripes

A sweetly striped petite ceramic zebra from American potter Betty Harrington for Ceramic Arts Studio, Madison, Wisconsin, circa 1940s. In 1942, Betty Harrington visited the Ceramic Arts Studio and asked the owners to fire a figurine she had sculpted from clay found in her backyard.  Recognizing her artistic talent, co-owner Reuben Sand refused a fee, but instead asked Harrington to model more figures.  It was the beginning of Harrington’s career as a potter—in the next 14 years she designed more than 800 figurines for the company.