RAM’s collection of ceramics, which focuses on mid- to late- 20th century American clay, is the most comprehensive segment of its permanent collection. It is particularly remarkable, not only because of the range of artists and styles it represents, but also because the collection contains multiple pieces from key figures in the ceramics world such as Ruth Duckworth, Ralph Bacerra, Sandra Byers, Gertrud and Otto Natzler, and Adrian Saxe.

Exploring late twentieth century issues in the medium, the collection examines function, ornament, decoration, and abstraction as well as allegory and narrative in pieces from ceramists like Jack Earl, Richard Shaw, and Ken Ferguson. A notable component of RAM’s ceramic collection is the Donna Moog Teapot collection, which documents more than 250 teapots from the 1980s and 1990s.

Below is a sample of RAM’s growing ceramics collection.