{{Short description|American author and craftswoman (1910–2002)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
'''Esther Sietmann Warner Dendel''' (1910–2002) was an American author and craftswoman who published several books on craftsmanship and Liberian traditions. She was the cofounder of Denwar Ceramics and was awarded the Annual Author Award by the Irvine Library in 1968.
== Early life and education == On February 2, 1910, Dendel was born to Lewis and Grace Sietmann on a farm outside of Laurel, Iowa. At age 11, she became a member of her local 4-H club and was named Iowa State 4-H President at the age of 17. In 1927, Dendel graduated from high school as the valedictorian of her class and began attending Iowa State College, though she left school after two years to work as a Home demonstration agent of the Extension Department of West Virginia Agricultural College.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=UI Collection Guides -Esther Sietmann Warner Dendel papers, 1922–1996 |url=http://collguides.lib.uiowa.edu/?IWA0301 |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=collguides.lib.uiowa.edu}}</ref>
Eventually, Dendel resumed her education, earning a degree from the Home economics Department of Iowa State College in 1938. Upon her graduation, she was awarded a Lydia Roberts Fellowship, which allowed her to continue her studies at Columbia University in New York City, where she earned a master's degree in art, with an emphasis in sculpture.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |date=August 30, 2002 |title=Esther Dendel, 92; Noted Craftswoman, Collector |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-30-me-dendel30-story.html |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Life in Liberia === Warner Dendel married botanist Robert Warner on December 9, 1939. The couple, who had met at Iowa State College, moved to Liberia after Robert was appointed Research Director for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.<ref name=":0" /> While in Liberia, Dendel made two trips across the country, travelling on foot through the rainforest and staying in villages where she learned about traditional Liberian customs, folklore and art forms. She reportedly funded these trips by capturing and training baby chimpanzees and selling them to a farm in Florida.<ref name=":1" />
=== Return to the United States === In 1943, Dendel and her husband returned to the United States, where she began teaching art at the University of Minnesota at St. Paul. The couple divorced soon after moving back to the U.S.<ref name=":0" />
In 1945, Dendel moved to Costa Mesa, California, where she founded Denwar Ceramics alongside Jo Dendel, whom she had met in Liberia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bossenkool |first1=Antonie |title=Costa Mesa house represents art of two hearts |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2014/02/15/costa-mesa-house-represents-art-of-two-hearts/ |website=Orange County Register |date=February 15, 2014}}</ref> The couple, who were married in 1950, created and sold unique dishes and pottery. During the 1960s, the Dendels began hosting weekly instructional pottery workshops. Their work has been displayed in both the Museum of Modern Art and the Bowers Museum.<ref name=":1" />
=== Death === Esther Dendel died of old age in 2002 at the age of 92.<ref name=":1" /> She is buried in Laurel, Iowa.<ref name=":1" />
== Literary works == Throughout her career, Dendel wrote several instructional books on crafts, as well as books on African myths and art forms inspired by her time living in Liberia.
Dendel's memoir ''New Song in a Strange Land'' (1948) was a narrative of her life in Africa and was illustrated by Jo Dendel.
=== Bibliography ===
==== Books about craftsmanship ====
* ''The Basic Book of Fingerweaving'' (1950) * ''African Fabric Crafts: Sources of African Design and Technique'' (1974) * ''The Basic Book of Twining'' (1978) * ''Designing from Nature: A Source Book for Artists and Other Craftsmen'' (1978) * ''You Cannot Unsneeze a Sneeze and Other Tales from Liberia'' (1995)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://libsearch.bethel.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=01CLIC_BETHEL:BETHEL&tab=CLIC_and_BETHEL_ALL_Slot&docid=alma991000029749703686&lang=en&context=L&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&query=sub,exact,%20Animals%20,AND&mode=advanced&offset=30 |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=libsearch.bethel.edu |language=en}}</ref>
==== Memoirs ====
* ''New Song in a Strange Land'' (1948)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pierre |first=Ray |date=June 27, 1948 |title=NEW SONG IN A STRANGE LAND. By Esther Warner. Decorations by Jo Dendel. 302 pp. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. $3.50. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/06/27/archives/new-song-in-a-strange-land-by-esther-warner-decorations-by-jo.html |access-date=2022-08-25 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''Seven Days to Lomaland'' (1954)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/eather-s-warner/seven-days-to-lomaland/ |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref>
==== Novels ====
* ''The Silk Cotton Tree'' (1958)<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dendel, Esther}} Category:Writers from Iowa Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:20th-century American women artists Category:American ceramists Category:1910 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Iowa State University alumni