You are bidding on a Clementine Hunter platter measuring 16 x 16 x 2.5 inches.

Baptism on Cane River is one of Oprah's Favorite Things. Clementine Hunter captures the ritual of baptizing new church members in the Cane River. Here Clementine Hunter depicts the local Catholic Church in the background with the Baptist tradition of immersion. This was always a joyous time for young and old. Baptizing in the Cane River is a community tradition in Natchitoches, Louisiana. This event is typical of the paintings Clementine did documenting life on a rural plantation in central Louisiana in the first half of the twentieth century. Each ceramic is hand-painted and no two are exactly alike. Each piece has its own distinctive shape whose textured surface allows you to feel the passion in her work. With each piece purchased, a percentage of the proceeds will go toward preservation and interpretation of the Clementine Hunter House at Melrose Plantation, a National Historical Landmark.

Clementine Hunter

Louisiana’s most famous artist, Clementine Hunter, was born in 1886 at Hidden Hill Plantation below Cloutierville, Louisiana. At a young age, Clementine moved to Melrose Plantation where she lived and worked until her death in 1988 at age 101. Clementine first worked in the cotton fields and pecan groves until Miss Cammie Henry, the owner of Melrose, brought her into the "Big House" to clean and cook. It was here that she came in contact with New Orleans artist Alberta Kinsley, whose work inspired Clementine to try painting. Without formal training, she produced colorful memory paintings that captured every day life on Melrose Plantation. Her paintings are recognized as a narrative telling the story of plantation life during the time before mechanization came to agriculture. Her depiction of cotton pickings, washdays, pecan pickings, weddings, baptisms, funerals and other scenes of life on Melrose, have made her works coveted around the world. Clementine Hunter is one of the most important self-taught American artists of the 20th century. Her works can be seen in the Smithsonian Institution, The American Folk Art Museum, The Oprah Winfrey Collection in Chicago and countless other museums and private collections.