The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
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1955 Born Buffalo, New York
EDUCATION
1978-1979 Trained with Ray Finch, Winchcombe Pottery Gloucestershire, England
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1980-1983 Manager, Fredericksburg Pottery, Virginia
1984—Studio Potter, Dan Finnegan Studio Pottery, Fredericksburg, Virginia
1994-1997 Faculty Member, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia
2001-2013 Founder, Liberty Town Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, Virginia
2012—Curator, Pottery on the Hill, Washington, DC
Dan Finnegan is known for making wood fired and salt glazed wheel-thrown functional stoneware pottery and bird sculptures that often portray birds in different situations. Finnegan makes a diverse range of functional work ranging from traditional to experimental forms. He uses various techniques to create interest on the surface: adding decorative sprigs, or bird sculptural elements, and chatter marks.
Chattering is accomplished by letting a metal object bounce on and off the surface of an unfired glazed object that is turning on the wheel and in the process removing bits of glaze. Finnegan is also known for his non-functional sculptural work which may employ trompe l’oeil books and often anthropomorphic birds engaged in questionable human activities such as gambling with dice or in murder scenes vignettes. His work is always wood fired and salt glazed in various colors.
Finnegan’s pottery is influenced by his time at Winchcombe Pottery (1800-) in England. Winchcombe had been led by Michael Cardew and later Ray Finch who hired Finnegan in 1978. By the time Finnegan returned to the U.S. he had embraced the aesthetics of the Winchcombe style and continued to honor its traditions by continuing to develop his unique style. Dan Finnegan founded Liberty Town Arts Workshop in 2001 that started as a small pottery school and turned into a center for arts and crafts with over 50 participating local artists.
Public Collections
Crocker Museum of Fine Art, Sacramento, California
National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, Washington, DC
Weismann Museum of Fine Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Since 2001, all of Dan Finnegan’s pots are marked with a sprig created when he presses clay into a mold which leaves it raised on the pot’s surface.
Citation: Herrera, Carolyn. "The Marks Project." Last modified September 12, 2019. http://themarksproject.org:443/marks/finnegan