Janice Cook Ceramic 3-Pc Serving Set — Tray, Plate & Bowl, Signed 

A signed three-piece porcelain serving set by Janice Cook, co-owner of The Potteries — the working studio and gallery she has operated with her husband Bill Cook on Calle de Santiago in Mesilla, New Mexico since 1986. Cook has been a full-time potter for fifty years, with studios in Amherst, Massachusetts and Tempe, Arizona before settling in southern New Mexico in 1980. This set represents a quieter, more graphic side of her practice than the brightly colored dinnerware she is best known for: all three pieces are fired in warm cream porcelain and decorated with a unified hand-applied program of black brushwork and embossed heart motifs. The rectangular tray carries an expressive, gestural black figure — abstract, likely a stylized bloom or figure — anchored by a raised embossed heart and two dark red accent dots, with impressed linear texture along both tab handles. The large round plate and small bowl each repeat a heart-in-rectangle composition: an embossed heart centered within a loosely rendered black brushwork frame, the same red dots as counterpoint. The calligraphic confidence across all three forms reflects decades of studio practice.

All three pieces are signed on the reverse with Cook's incised cursive signature and an impressed spiral studio mark. Pieces by Cook are actively collected regionally and sold through The Potteries gallery, which has been featured in local press and draws collectors to Mesilla's historic district. 

CONDITION

Very Good. All three pieces present cleanly with no chips, cracks, or glaze loss. Light crazing is present throughout, consistent with the glaze chemistry of high-fire porcelain and normal aging rather than damage or misuse.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Tray: 2" H × 16.75" L × 8" W
• Plate: 7.5" Diameter
• Bowl: 1.75" H × 5" Diameter
• Material: Porcelain
• Glaze: Cream / ivory overall; black underglaze brushwork; embossed heart motifs; dark red accent dots
• Marks: Incised cursive signature "Cook" (Janice Cook) verso; impressed spiral studio mark
• Origin: The Potteries, Mesilla, New Mexico
• Lot: 3 pieces — rectangular serving tray, large round plate, small bowl

Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale