Cowboy Boots

Luce Center Label: Bill Wilhelmi designed this pair of porcelain cowboy boots specifically for the Renwick Gallery show, American Porcelain: New Expressions in an Ancient Art. The artist was inspired to begin casting ceramic cowboy boots after seeing a collection of authentic footwear. This pair of boots is unique because it was the first that Wilhelmi modeled in porcelain. They were cast from an actual pair and as a result exhibit signs of aging in the creased porcelain at the ankles. The wing tips on the toes of the shoes, as well as the heels, are glazed with a gold luster, and the boots are airbrushed with an evening desert landscape.

See more items in: Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department: Renwick Gallery
On View: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 54A; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor

1980

Topic: Landscape\desert; Landscape\weather\cloud; Landscape\celestial\star; Landscape\plant\cactus

Medium: slip-cast, airbrushed-underglaze and glazed porcelain with gold lusters
Dimensions: left boot: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 4 in. (36.2 x 26.0 x 10.2 cm) right boot: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 x 4 1/8 in. (36.2 x 26.0 x 10.5 cm)

Smithsonian American Art Museum

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