Foxfield — for the Foxware you want
Foxfield — beyond the pack since 1981

Hand-sculpted creations reproduced in ceramic & bronze

Greenford, Ohio — Est. 1980

Originally The Foxfield Atelier

Foxfield sprang to life in Greenford, Ohio, in 1980. From the beginning, its purpose was singular: to create studio-edition, fox-themed artware in vitreous china and earthenware bodies.

A nationally recognized collection of horse show trophies was also part of the original production, but this work was discontinued in 2005 to focus entirely on the fox.

The name changed to Foxfield Ltd. in 1989. The devotion to the craft never wavered.

The Foxfield Atelier — original studio brand plate

The Journey

1977
A fox wanders into the work and never quite leaves. The mark is claimed, quietly, as FOXFIELD.
1980
The studio takes on a name of its own — the Foxfield Atelier. Horses gallop in alongside the fox, the first Buckeye Sweepstakes trophies taking shape in clay, while "Functional Foxware" starts finding its way into the world.
1980s
The Foxware makes its first trade-show appearance and word travels fast — soon, it's on shelves across a good many states. New foxes, new horses, new plaques, one after another. By 1989, the studio has grown into its lasting name: Foxfield Ltd.
1992
The award work steps onto a national stage at the Arabian Horse Association Convention. Meanwhile, out west, Coldwater Creek falls for a trio of fox ornaments — and orders 4,200 of them.
1995
A move to Pittsburgh, and the name returns to the original — just FOXFIELD, circa 1977.
2005
The horse molds are finally let go, and the Foxware quiets. What remains is the fox — always, really, the point of the whole thing.
Today
Still sculpting, still firing, still keeping company with Vulpes vulpes — one piece at a time.

The Craft

A Vision Emerges

Something strikes the mind's eye — an expression, a trick of the light on fur, an unlikely pose caught in the wild — and inspiration takes hold, spurring the slow work of forming the model structure.

Reproduction Commences

Then comes the arduous part: a plaster mold drawn from the original, then a permanent rubber master cast from it — the figure's one true likeness, from which every piece to follow will descend.

A New Direction

As the years bend the hand that shapes them, I can no longer recreate the true-to-life palette and airbrush method of the prime era, so pieces are now fired at a lower, mid-range temperature in a stoneware slip body. The palette, too, is opening to variable options, described piece by piece in the 2023–Present section of the Collection.

Maker’s Creed
My Foxwares are studio editions. No factory, mass quantities, or assistants. All me, a little ol’ man doing what I do: putting forth unique designs celebrating the fox.
Timothy S Kelly Vulpes vulpes

Inquiries

Interested in a piece from the collection, or just a little curious? Tim welcomes inquiries from collectors and admirers of the fox.

Thank you — Tim will be in touch soon.

A Small Indulgence

Vita Vulpes

Transforming unformed clay into likeness through patience and perseverance is my life's work. Here, I take a four-part detour — because even the most solemn kiln deserves a little whimsy.

— hover a quadrant, try a color, create. Make one you love, then pass it along.

Send Tim your favorite combo

"I cannot let it pass without acknowledging a life-long friend who generously shared her knowledge and facility willingly with me in the very early, lean years.

In my journey to become the artist I am, my innate talent was greatly supported and assisted.

Thank you so very, very much Diane Less."

Know more about an amazing artist at Spotted Horse Studio  ·  Angels for Animals

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Notes from Tim — 2023–Present

These days, the contemporary glaze palette leans toward the pleasure of a chance find in an antique shop or an eclectic boutique — something that looks like it was made in a much earlier era and simply waited, patiently, to be discovered. I'm chasing the feel of tarnished pewter, or brass that's earned its patina over a long, well-worn life.

Then, in an altogether different direction, I've been working with a chemical pigment formulation mixed directly into the slip body itself. It opens up an entirely new way of thinking about colorway — not painted on, but part of the piece from the very start.

— Tim

Colorway — for client review