Faience Plate by Henry Varnum Poor, 1966.

Crudely thrown faience plate with finely crazed female "portrait" in a mottled glaze of plum, brown, olive and pale green against a cream colored ground, 1966. Signed HVP 66. Eight inch diameter.

Henry Varnum Poor (1887–1970) received his B.A. in Art from Stanford University before going to Europe in 1910. There he attended the Académie Julian in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1911 and taught art at Stanford before moving to San Francisco to teach at the San Francisco Art Association. Following military service in World War I, he settled in Rockland County, New York.

Although Poor considered painting his primary medium, after the stock market crash in 1929 he focused mainly on ceramics, which brought him fame and numerous awards. He also worked successfully as an architect, designer, furniture maker, sculptor, author, illustrator, educator and muralist - painting twelve murals in the U.S. Department of Justice and the mural Conservation of American Wild Life in the Department of the Interior during the 1930s.