Cabat, Rose (1914-2015)

Rose Cabat’s talents were initially recognized by her husband and childhood sweetheart, Erni Cabat. One day in 1938, Erni brought home a lump of clay he acquired from work. He was highly impressed by the vases Rose coiled and, in turn, gifted her a membership with Greenwich House Pottery, where she worked at night to teach herself how to throw on the wheel. Erni would sometimes help Rose glaze her pots. The couple resided in New York and decided to move to Tucson, Arizona, in 1942, for the sake of their first child, who had asthma. They went on to have two more children. Rose was given her first wheel from Erni, and they built a small backyard studio. She developed her own glazes and began selling her pottery by the early 1950s. The Cabat Studio operated as a successful full-time operation, with Rose maintaining production and Erni managing glaze chemistry and the business end. After her husband’s passing in 1994, their daughter June took over operations, stepping into the management and caretaking role. Cabat’s pottery, endearingly known as “Feelies”, is often modeled after nature, taking on organic shapes, such as onions, pears, and figs. As Bruce Block puts it, “For me, they are the most Zen of pottery.” Rose Cabat is considered a highly innovative ceramicist of the Mid-century Modern movement.