Robert Arneson
No Deposit, No Return1961

Not on view

Ceramic vessel modeled after a bottle form, with chestnut-brown glaze, impressed 'DEPOSIT' lettering, and a teal-glazed panel bearing a raised mauve X on the body, topped with a sculpted teal bottle cap

Ceramic vessel in the form of an oversized bottle with amber-brown glaze, raised lettering reading "NO DEPOSI" around the shoulder, a turquoise-glazed applied panel with a red X on the front, and a turquoise crown cap at the neck.

Ceramic vessel in the form of a rounded bottle with amber-brown glaze, turquoise crown cap at the neck, raised lettering reading 'DEPOSIT,' and a rectangular turquoise-glazed panel featuring a crossed X motif in relief.

Ceramic vessel in the form of a rounded bottle with matte reddish-brown glaze, raised lettering reading "NO DEPOSIT" around the shoulder, turquoise glazed bottle cap at neck, and a turquoise-glazed diamond-shaped label with unglazed geometric design on the body.

Artist or Maker: Robert Arneson
United States,1930 - 1992
Title: No Deposit, No Return
Place Made: United States, California, Sacramento
Date Made: 1961
Medium: Earthenware
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 in. (12.7 cm); Height: 10 3/4 in. (27.305 cm)
Credit Line: Smits Ceramics Purchase Fund, Modern Art Deaccession Fund and the Decorative Arts Council Acquisition Fund
Accession Number: M.91.245
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: While playing around in a demonstration booth at the California State Fair, Robert Arneson threw a clay beer bottle form, capped it, and emblazoned it with the slogan “no deposit, no return.” This willfully nonfunctionalist gesture caused a rift with his former teacher the formalist potter Antonio Prieto, but it set the stage for the witty ceramic sculptures that became Arneson’s signature work.

(California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way," 2011-12)
Selected Bibliography: Lauria, Jo; Color and Fire - Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2000.
Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. Makers: a History of American Studio Craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Kaplan, Wendy, ed. California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2011.
Kaplan, Wendy, ed. Living in a Modern Way: California Design, 1930-1965. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013.
Lynn, Martha Drexler. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940 to 1979. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.
Savig, Mary, editor. State Fairs: Growing American Craft. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2025.
Selected Exhibition History: California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 20, 2013 - June 3, 2013
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". July 6, 2013 - September 29, 2013
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". November 2, 2013 - February 9, 2014
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 29, 2014 - July 6, 2014
Copyright: Art © Robert Arneson Estate/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Related Exhibitions

Robert Arneson
No Deposit, No Return1961

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Robert Arneson
United States,1930 - 1992
Title: No Deposit, No Return
Place Made: United States, California, Sacramento
Date Made: 1961
Medium: Earthenware
Dimensions: Diameter: 5 in. (12.7 cm); Height: 10 3/4 in. (27.305 cm)
Credit Line: Smits Ceramics Purchase Fund, Modern Art Deaccession Fund and the Decorative Arts Council Acquisition Fund
Accession Number: M.91.245
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: While playing around in a demonstration booth at the California State Fair, Robert Arneson threw a clay beer bottle form, capped it, and emblazoned it with the slogan “no deposit, no return.” This willfully nonfunctionalist gesture caused a rift with his former teacher the formalist potter Antonio Prieto, but it set the stage for the witty ceramic sculptures that became Arneson’s signature work.

(California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way," 2011-12)
Selected Bibliography: Lauria, Jo; Color and Fire - Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2000.
Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. Makers: a History of American Studio Craft. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Kaplan, Wendy, ed. California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2011.
Kaplan, Wendy, ed. Living in a Modern Way: California Design, 1930-1965. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013.
Lynn, Martha Drexler. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940 to 1979. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015.
Savig, Mary, editor. State Fairs: Growing American Craft. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2025.
Selected Exhibition History: California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 20, 2013 - June 3, 2013
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". July 6, 2013 - September 29, 2013
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". November 2, 2013 - February 9, 2014
California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 29, 2014 - July 6, 2014