Page 30 - May 2020

The 35,000 square foot Brastoff studio in Los Angeles, which of decoration on many Bellaire pieces
opened in 1953, became a Mecca for tourists and movie stars. An show the Brastoff influence. A curved-
endless array of ceramic products was on view, from ashtrays and lamps edge central image is often the focal
to enamelware and sculptures, in such fanciful designs as Star Steed and point of a design, echoing the curved
Rooftops. Brastoff supervised all design, turning out over 400 new items edges of the object itself, whether
yearly. His sure sense of what the public would want embraced almost ashtray, bowl, or rounded platter.
every type of project. There were the practical ones, such as candelabra, Bellaire also favored Brastoff’s bold,
cigarette boxes, vases, and ashtrays. There were purely art objects, such contrasting colors, and metallic
as wall plaques and decorative obelisks. There were even complete lines accents. Themes, however, show a
of china and earthen dinnerware. much greater variance: Brastoff’s
The “designer extraordinaire” (those ads again), worked in a variety images are often romanticized and
of media in addition to ceramic. Included in his varied output were ethereal. Bellaire’s fierce Jungle Dancers
freeform metal sculptures, mosaic wall masks, terra cotta figurines, and blank-faced Mardi Gras celebrants
fabric, and even a line of “hologram jewelry.” Brastoff’s designs are darker, more knowing, and more
eventually even found their way into films: his Illusion sculpture can be exotic.
seen in Forbidden Planet. In the early 1950s, Bellaire
Brastoff’s fame was so widespread that, even after ill health forced branched out on his own, opening the
his retirement in the early 1960s, the Brastoff company continued to Marc Bellaire Ceramics Studio in
successfully turn out pieces in his style for ten more years. (Items with Bellaire bird dishes, white, Culver City, California. While he
a full “Sascha Brastoff” signature were decorated by Brastoff himself. 17-1/2” h; black, 10-1/2” h produced artware in the Brastoff
Those with only a “Sascha B.” signature, or the Brastoff name and a $300-$325; $250-$275 vein—platters, planters, and the like—
“rooster” stamp were products of the decorating staff.) the stylistic touch became distinctively
Although Sascha Brastoff’s mercurial creative interests led him in Bellaire. Brastoff’s figures, though often whimsical, generally retain
many directions, certain elements remain constant in his work. The normal proportions. Bellaire's, with arms and legs of exaggerated
presentation is always highly theatrical, and laced with whimsy. There length, and bizarre or rudimentary features, at times, resemble aliens or
is an ongoing use of unusual color combinations, sometimes stick figures.
metallic, or with metallic accents. And above all, each Brastoff piece The effect is even more pronounced
shows his keen ability to make the extraordinary both commercially and startling in the three-dimensional
and artistically appealing. figurines Bellaire produced to accompany
There are artists. There are promoters. And then there was Sascha such lines as Mardi Gras and Jamaica.
Brastoff: the best of both. Here, the relationship to reality is
intriguingly tenuous. While the images
Marc Bellaire: Master of Modern Ceramics are clear, their details are minimal: the
featureless Mardi Gras dancer’s carnival
mask, or the ballooning sleeves and floppy
straw hats of the Jamaica musicians.
Bellaire’s ease with the other-worldly
came in particularly handy for his large-
scale design assignments in Hollywood,
Las Vegas, and at Disneyland.
Marc Bellaire’s later designs, until his
death in 1994, focused on pots and
vases in the southwestern style, with
little reference to his earlier work. His
pieces can be identified by a full or
partial signature on the object surface
Jungle Dancer bean-shaped covered dish by Bellaire Mermaid platter, or reverse.
Marc Bellaire, 11” l, $150-$175 12-1/4” d, $175-$200
Although perhaps not for every taste, A Jamaica pitcher by Marc
Although not as universally recognized as the heavily-promoted Bellaire’s strikingly original designs Bellaire, 18” h, $150-$175
Brastoff, Bellaire’s design influence was equally long-lasting. In fact, make his ceramics ideal accent pieces in
many amateur ceramists of the period owe their entire technique, for a 1950s-modern home. Heralded by
better or worse, to Bellaire. After achieving his own success, Bellaire Giftware magazine as one of the top ten artware designers of the ‘50s,
wrote numerous “how-to” articles for Popular Ceramics, allowing the Marc Bellaire’s work reflects the message he conveyed to budding
artistically-deprived (or challenged) to try their hand at bowls, vases, craftsmen: “creative expression must bring joy to its creator; without it,
and other vessels featuring his characteristic elongated figures and the work itself lacks joy.”
colorful glazes. Examples of these home-based projects, which often Continued on page 30
turn up at yard sales,
indicate that talent
was not always readily
transferable.
Born in Toledo in
1925, Marc Bellaire
studied at the Chicago
Academy of Art and
Chicago Art Institute,
before moving to
California in 1950, and
beginning his association
with early employer
Brastoff. The object
Marc Bellaire Green Bird pillow vase, Marc Bellaire signature example
7-1/2” h, $175-$200 shapes and placement

28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles