Beginning in England in the early 1880s, the Arts and Crafts movement spread across the United States and Europe by the late 1880s. It celebrated the importance of beauty in everyday objects and urged a reconnection to nearby nature. The movement resisted the way industrial mass production undermined artisan crafts and was inspired by the ideas of artisan William Morris and writer John Ruskin. Valuing hand-made objects using traditional materials, it was known for a color palette of earth tones. Its artistic principles replaced realistic, colorful, and three-dimensional designs with more abstract and simplified forms using subdued tones. Stylized plant forms and matte glazes echoed a shift to quiet restraint in household décor. The Arts and Crafts movement also embraced social ideals, including respect for skilled hand labor and concern for the quality of producers’ lives. The movement struggled with the tension between the cost of beautiful crafts and the limited number of households able to afford them. Some potters relied on practical products such as drain tiles to boost income or supported themselves with teaching or publications. Arts and Crafts influence extended to other endeavors, including furniture, such as Stickley’s Mission Style, and architecture, such as the Arts and Crafts bungalow, built widely across the United States. American Arts and Crafts pottery flourished between 1880 and the first World War, though several potteries continued in successful operation into the later 20^th^ century.
About Clifton Art Pottery:
William A. Long, a druggist from Steubenville, Ohio, experimented with pottery glazes in the 1880s and formed Lonhuda Pottery with two partners in 1892. After the firm moved to Zanesville, Ohio, to join Weller Pottery, Long went to work for the J. B. Owens Company there and subsequently moved to Denver, Colorado, where he founded the Denver China and Pottery Company in 1901. In 1905, he moved to Clifton, New Jersey, and founded the Clifton Pottery, together with chemist, Fred Tschirner. Clifton Pottery was known for several lines. A dense, white ware was decorated with a pale green crystalline glaze or with a flowing blend of pale, semi-matte colors. The Clifton Indian Ware echoed Southwest Native American forms, with unglazed clay exteriors and high-gloss black interiors, which were waterproof. Floral and Art Nouveau designs were also produced. Clifton ceased art pottery production in 1911 and shifted to tile production, changing its name to Clifton Porcelain and Tile Company.
About the Object:
Example of Clifton's crystal patina ware. Yellow-green top shading into dull green matte glaze.
In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
Whitall, Tatum & Company of Millville, New Jersey was formed in 1901 and employed first rate craftsmen who created outstanding paperweights.
This Whitall, Tatum and Company paperweight features a powdery white sailboat and blue water suspended vertically in a clear glass ball and is attributed to Michael Kane. Kane is known best for his “frit” work--the act of fusing powdered glass to create an image or scene, as in the paper thin ship in this paperweight.
In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
Whitall, Tatum & Company of Millville, New Jersey was formed in 1901 and employed first rate craftsmen who created outstanding paperweights.
This Whitall, Tatum and Company paperweight features a red Rose and a pedestal base. This style of Rose is attributed to glassworker Ralph Barber.
Beginning in England in the early 1880s, the Arts and Crafts movement spread across the United States and Europe by the late 1880s. It celebrated the importance of beauty in everyday objects and urged a reconnection to nearby nature. The movement resisted the way industrial mass production undermined artisan crafts and was inspired by the ideas of artisan William Morris and writer John Ruskin. Valuing hand-made objects using traditional materials, it was known for a color palette of earth tones. Its artistic principles replaced realistic, colorful, and three-dimensional designs with more abstract and simplified forms using subdued tones. Stylized plant forms and matte glazes echoed a shift to quiet restraint in household décor. The Arts and Crafts movement also embraced social ideals, including respect for skilled hand labor and concern for the quality of producers’ lives. The movement struggled with the tension between the cost of beautiful crafts and the limited number of households able to afford them. Some potters relied on practical products such as drain tiles to boost income or supported themselves with teaching or publications. Arts and Crafts influence extended to other endeavors, including furniture, such as Stickley’s Mission Style, and architecture, such as the Arts and Crafts bungalow, built widely across the United States. American Arts and Crafts pottery flourished between 1880 and the first World War, though several potteries continued in successful operation into the later 20^th^ century.
About Hill Pottery/Fulper Pottery:
One of the oldest potteries in America, Hill Pottery was founded in 1814 by Samuel Hill in Flemington, New Jersey, and produced drain tiles and mugs, bowls, jars, jugs, and churns in earthenware and stoneware. It was sold at Hill’s death in 1860 to the firm’s partner, Abraham Fulper. His sons, George W., William H., Charles, and Edward B., continued the pottery and incorporated it in 1899. Under William H. Fulper II, Abraham’s grandson, the Vasekraft art pottery line was developed in 1909. It included dozens of items such as vases, lamps, mugs, pitchers, and tiles in hundreds of crystalline and matte pastel glazes. Using locally-sourced clays and glazes, Fulper artisans transitioned from painted and carved decorations, sometimes fired twice, to an emphasis on shape and color in a single firing. Fulper Pottery was led after 1911 by J. Martin Stangl, who invented the award-winning famille rose glazes. After a fire in 1929, the pottery shifted from Flemington to Trenton, New Jersey, and continued to produce artware until 1935. Under leadership by Stangl and Frank H. Wheaton, production continued until 1978.