Jonathan Adler Pottery
1990s Peruvian Mid-Century Modern Tableware
Pottery
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Faux Bamboo
1990s American Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Wood
Vintage 1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Sculptures and Carvings
Ceramic
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Porcelain, Pottery
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
2010s Indonesian Brutalist Dry Bars
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Credenzas
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Jars
Ceramic
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Bookends
Pottery, Walnut
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic, Earthenware
Vintage 1970s German Porcelain
Porcelain
Late 20th Century American Chinese Chippendale Chairs
Velvet, Fruitwood
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chippendale Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mexican Folk Art Animal Sculptures
Ceramic, Pottery
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Barware
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Brutalist Dry Bars
Mirror, Resin, Wood
Vintage 1970s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Natural Specimens
Paper
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
Metal
Antique Late 18th Century Belgian Baroque Ceramics
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Mexican Organic Modern Barware
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Late 20th Century Mexican Folk Art Vases
Pottery
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Aluminum
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
20th Century Hollywood Regency Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic, Majolica
Recent Sales
1990s American Modern Vases
Ceramic, Pottery
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Tables
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Ceramics
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Planters and J...
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Planters and J...
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Porcelain, Pottery
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Pottery, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Vases
Stoneware, Pottery
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Ceramics
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary American Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Acrylic
Vintage 1950s French Vases
Jonathan Adler Pottery For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Jonathan Adler Pottery?
Jonathan Adler for sale on 1stDibs
Potter-turned-home-design guru Jonathan Adler is a man with a peripatetic mind, inspired in equal parts, it seems, by classic modern design, Surrealism and pop culture.
Although his namesake company has expanded into a mini empire touching just about every aspect of modern living — chairs and ice buckets, wallpaper and menorahs, chandeliers and rugs — made in myriad materials, Adler still creates almost every object in clay first. His guiding principle is a simple one: “I make the stuff I want to surround myself with, and I surround myself with it.”
Adler grew up in a New Jersey farm town. His grandfather became a local judge, and his father returned home after graduating from the University of Chicago. “My pop was a brilliantly talented artist. At one point, he had to decide whether to become an artist or a —,” he pauses, searching for the right word, “person.” His father became a lawyer but spent all his free time in his studio, “making art, unencumbered by the need to make money from it. It was a totally pure pursuit.” Adler’s mother, who had worked at Vogue and moved to the rural town reluctantly, was also creative, and both parents encouraged their three children’s creativity.
When he was 12, Adler went to sleepaway camp, where he threw his first pot. “And it was on,” he says. His parents bought him a pottery wheel, and he spent the remainder of his adolescence elbow-deep in clay. Even while majoring in semiotics and art history at Brown University, he hung out at the nearby Rhode Island School of Design, making pots.
Adler moved to New York City, worked briefly in entertainment, and in 1993 returned to his true love, throwing pots (in exchange for teaching classes) at a Manhattan studio called Mud Sweat & Tears. One day, at Balducci’s food market, he ran into Bill Sofield, an old friend who had recently cofounded, with Thomas O’Brien, the now-legendary Aero Studios, a design firm and shop. Sofield paid a studio visit and promptly gave him an order. Then, another friend introduced Adler to a buyer at Barneys New York, who also wrote an order.
For about three years after Adler began devoting himself to ceramics full-time. Despite the street cred of both Aero and Barneys, he also wasn’t really making enough money to live on. Then, in 1997, he teamed with Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit aimed at creating economic opportunity for skilled artisans in developing countries, and traveled to Peru to hire potters who could follow his designs, thus increasing production.
Adler’s first store opened in 1998, in the Soho shopping mecca in Manhattan. He now operates about two dozen shops, as far-flung as London and Bangkok. During Adler’s trip to Peru, he connected not only with potters but also with several talented weavers and decided to branch out into textiles. Other categories followed, leading him to travel the world in search of artisans who could execute his endless supply of ideas. In India, Adler found a man who’s expert at beadwork; he has his limed furniture made in Indonesia, his honey-colored wood pieces in Vietnam.
After a friend asked him to decorate her house, Adler expanded to interior design, taking on hotels as well as private residences — projects for which he remains “agnostic,” using pieces by other designers. “I really try to get to know my clients and then make them seem more glamorous and more eccentric than they think,” he says. “I see myself as a slimming mirror for them.”
Find Jonathan Adler seating, case pieces, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.