Our History
Irving Place Studio's roots in Los Angeles date back six decades. It was founded by artists Dora De Larios and Ellice Johnston in 1968. Students of noted 20th century ceramic artists Vivika and Otto Heino, Dora and Ellice brought their unique sensibilities to the burgeoning Los Angeles Studio Pottery Movement. Irving Place Studio became the home of six ceramists, as well as a painter and a sculptor – all bursting with creativity, productivity and community. During the 1970s, Dora was commissioned to make dinnerware for the White House's annual Senate Ladies Luncheon. In a letter from First Lady Rosalyn Carter to the Senate wives, Mrs. Carter said, “What is so exciting to me is that the heritage of our crafts has not been lost under the weight and speed of advancing technology.” Work created by hand and the feeling that comes with it has always been the mission of Irving Place Studio.
Over time Dora broadened her focus to include work in cast concrete, brass, stainless steel, acrylic and wood, completing a variety of large-scale architectural commissions. Dora’s ceramic sculptures were recently featured in three major exhibitions as part of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s 2011 show Pacific Standard Time and she was recently honored with a 50 year retrospective at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.
Black and white studio photo and group photo from American Craft Magazine June/July 1981, article by Elaine Levin, photos by Jeffrey L. Levin. Group photo is of Irving Place Studio ceramists from left to right Kazuko Matthews, Fern Jane Cook, Cherie Silver, Barbara Pinkski, and Dora De Larios. Photo of Ellice Jonhston mixing glaze to the left by Bernard Judge.
Irving Place Studio 2012-2022
Irving Place Studio 2012-2022 was a collaboration between Dora, her daughter Sabrina Judge, and son-in-law Aaron Glascock. Started in the summer of 2012, together they created a line of contemporary, elegant hand thrown ceramics for everyday use at the table. Combining Dora’s endless knowledge of clay and glazes with Sabrina and Aaron's contemporary design esthetic, Irving Place Studio offered simple, elegant, unadorned handmade basics. The simple shape and clean finish work of the bowls and plates were the main design feature. Irving Place Studio’s bowls and plates were thrown on a potter's wheel by a master ceramist with decades of experience. Our slab platters and plates were draped by hand.
All work was done by hand in Los Angeles.
Our Mission
Irving Place Studio’s mission was to design and make contemporary, elegant handmade ceramics of the highest quality for everyday use. We merged functionality with timeless beauty, using master ceramists to attain our goal. Our bowls were made using traditional methods - hands - and time-tested materials - earth & water. Each piece was hand thrown on a potter's wheel, making each bowl unique. We carried on the tradition of hand thrown pottery in California. With our lives controlled more and more by technology, we sought beauty and feeling in things created by hand. Irving Place Studio was local, all of our bowls were made at our studio in Los Angeles. We were very proud to be part of the local movement - it was very important to make our bowls and plates in Los Angeles.
Our Bowls and Plates
Our bowls and plates were made out of porcelain or stoneware and were hand thrown on a potter's wheel. Our slab platters were hand draped over molds we made at the studio. All of our glazes are made in house and many were special formulas created by Dora over the past 50 years which we guard like one of her warriors - Ha! Every piece was worked on 12 times by hand. Every piece was glazed by hand. Size, shape and glaze application vary slightly making each piece unique and special - perfectly imperfect! We strove to make every piece with the highest level of craftsmanship. Dora used to say that the work was imbued with soul because of how many times each piece had been handled and worked on. We think she was right - that was the mission of Irving Place Studio.
All the clay we used came from the US and 90% of our glaze materials were from the US as well. The ware was bisque fired to cone 06 (1830 degrees Fahrenheit), glazed, then high fired to cone 10 (2381 degrees Fahrenheit) reduction in a gas kiln.
All of our ceramics are dishwasher safe. It is ok to use Bon Ami as needed.
Our Ceramics Team
Everyone listed below played an extremely important role in IPS. It takes a village for sure!
Dora De Larios - Designer, knowledge bank and inspiration. With over 59 years experience in clay, Dora was in charge of everything.
Sabrina Judge - Designer, operational director, glazing, firing and everything else it took to keep IPS going.
Aaron Glascock - Designer, tooling and production advisor.
Doug Van Sickle - Production potter. With over 38 years of experience as a production potter, Doug's encyclopedic knowledge of clay and ceramic materials baffled us daily. His precision throwing is truly a gift.
Alisabeth Brown - Ceramist. Alisabeth forms many of our Slab Platters, she was our Slab specialist! We love how much care Alisabeth put into details that make each platter beautiful.
Roberto Ortiz - Studio assistant and assistant glazer. Roberto helped with everything around the studio and helped us keep very tidy, which we all REALLY appreciated! A clean, orderly studio is THE BEST THING EVER!
Site photography - Dale Strumpell, Aaron Glascock and Sabrina Judge unless otherwise noted.
Please visit doradelarios.com for more information about Dora's work.
Irving Place Studio 2017 - Serigraphs
Dora first began creating serigraphs in the 1970’s; bold, graphic designs that were printed by Gia Roland, ROLS Press. Serigraphs joined the many mediums Dora explored in her vast body of work, which also included ceramics, drawings, architectural work, metal, and wood sculptures. Notably, she designed many tiles for Interpace, two of which became their best-selling designs. Yet, it was the serigraphs that left an indelible impression on Sabrina. Sabrina found the medium especially conducive to sharing Dora’s strong graphic sense, by recreating Dora’s illustrations of women, animals, and the natural world. It was then that they discussed Dora designing serigraphs for Irving Place Studio.
In 2017 Dora returned to painting, along with working on her ceramic practice. She produced two serigraph prints from the paintings she was particularly fond of. Sabrina was very excited about the serigraph idea because she always saw Dora as a great designer - not just a ceramist.
Today, Irving Place Studio is producing small runs of limited edition serigraphs of Dora’s paintings and drawings that are printed by master printers in Los Angeles. We are excited to bring these special designs to life and to have a new works by Dora available in a medium she loved.
When Dora and Sabrina started Irving Place Studio the goal was to make elegant, handmade dinnerware and then expand to produce Dora’s designs on linens and prints. Sabrina is carrying on the original idea of making beautiful, locally, well made prints with Dora’s joyful designs.
Irving Place Studio 2023-present
After Dora’s passing in 2018, the pandemic and life, Irving Place Studio stopped producing ceramics and closed it’s doors in late 2022. Sabrina continues to work on her mother’s legacy and help usher Dora’s special works to permanent museum collections as well as producing serigraphs of Dora’s paintings and drawings.