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 Grueby Pottery: William Grueby (1867-1925), a member of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, began producing bricks, tiles, and architectural terra cotta in 1890 and founded his Grueby Faience Company in 1894 in Revere, Massachusetts. The firm expanded into art pottery in 1897 and was quickly successful, winning exhibition medals at World’s Fairs in Paris and St. Petersburg and the Grand Prize in St. Louis in 1904. A subdued, matte green glaze became the hallmark of the company’s art pottery line and an iconic example of Arts and Crafts design. Grueby work was also distinguished by its forms—inspired by the French Art Nouveau potter, Auguste Delaherche, and the company marketed over a hundred items, from “small cabinet bits to great jars over three feet high” (Kovel and Kovel 1993:60). Hand thrown on the wheel, Grueby pottery was noted for an extensive range of novel matte glazes developed by William Grueby himself. Decoration was applied under the supervision of the designers by young women trained in local Boston art schools. Commonly, plant motifs were applied in a clay relief, in highly stylized designs. Paris dealer Samuel Bing promoted Grueby’s pottery as part of European Art Nouveau, and Grueby pottery was used for Tiffany lamp bases in the United States. Grueby Pottery also gained popularity through being displayed and sold with Gustav Stickley’s Arts and Crafts furniture. Grueby art pottery ended in 1911, though architectural tile production continued in a related firm for several more years. Grueby’s work was very influential but was ultimately unable to compete with firms that mass-produced similar styles at lower cost.
(Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
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 Rookwood Pottery:
Rookwood is one of the most famous of the late nineteenth century art potteries, and it is the most extensively represented in the Smithsonian collection. Maria Longworth Nichols, its founder, began work as a china painter in 1873 and was part of the China Decorating Group in Cincinnati (see About Mary Louise McLaughlin). Inspired by French and Japanese pottery displayed in the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, she began to learn ceramic techniques, and in 1880, her father offered her “an old schoolhouse” that became her working pottery. Her family continued financial support until her father’s death in 1883, when William Watts Taylor joined Rookwood Pottery as an administrator and partner, bringing a new business-oriented approach. Taylor expanded production and hired men decorators for the first time, though the majority of artists employed over the years were women. In 1884, artist Laura Frye innovated the application of underglaze slips using an atomizer, which allowed the subtle gradations of color that became a signature of Rookwood pottery and was adopted elsewhere. In 1889, Rookwood was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition, “placing the enterprise at the forefront of the world’s potteries” (Evans 1987:257). In 1890, Maria Nichols, now married to Bellamy Storer, withdrew from the firm, leaving Taylor as director. The firm continued to grow, developed rich matte and bright glazes, and emphasized plant and floral designs. The company employed a Japanese artist, Kataro Shiryamadani, who produced many designs reflecting a Japanese aesthetic. Later subjects included portraits of native Americans and historical figures. The firm also introduced pottery with electro-deposited silver overlay designs.
Rookwood developed a matte glaze around 1900 to compete with the forest-green hues of the popular Grueby Faience Company. Unlike Grueby’s glaze, which appeared waxy and leafy, Rookwood’s interpretation often used pastel tones with a vellum-like finish. Rookwood’s earlier Standard Glaze (a deep mahogany brown color graduating into yellow) transitioned into a number of popular blue, green, and lavender glazes, following consumer trends. Rookwood’s prize-winning vellum glaze brought international recognition. Architectural tile production began in 1901, and examples can be seen in the New York subway stations. After 1915, production shifted to more mass-produced ware, “rich, heavy, and simple in color,” which allowed the pottery to survive through two World Wars and the Great Depression (Evans 1987:257). An astonishing “forty thousand glaze formulas were listed at the factory and more than five hundred glazes were in daily use” (Kovel and Kovel 1993:189). In 1956, the firm was moved to Mississippi and finally closed in 1967.
(Evans, Paul, 1987. Art Pottery of the United States. New York: Feingold and Lewis Publishing Corp.; Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
Charcoal and watercolor drawing on beige paper that has been mounted on beige card using glue adhesive. The drawing depicts abstract figures, workers walking and siting under a covered area. An exhibit label attached to the work suggests that the workers are German prisoners. The abstract depictions are outlined in charcoal and pencil and have been filled in with green, red, and yellow paint.
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 Rookwood Pottery:
Rookwood is one of the most famous of the late nineteenth century art potteries, and it is the most extensively represented in the Smithsonian collection. Maria Longworth Nichols, its founder, began work as a china painter in 1873 and was part of the China Decorating Group in Cincinnati (see About Mary Louise McLaughlin). Inspired by French and Japanese pottery displayed in the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, she began to learn ceramic techniques, and in 1880, her father offered her “an old schoolhouse” that became her working pottery. Her family continued financial support until her father’s death in 1883, when William Watts Taylor joined Rookwood Pottery as an administrator and partner, bringing a new business-oriented approach. Taylor expanded production and hired men decorators for the first time, though the majority of artists employed over the years were women. In 1884, artist Laura Frye innovated the application of underglaze slips using an atomizer, which allowed the subtle gradations of color that became a signature of Rookwood pottery and was adopted elsewhere. In 1889, Rookwood was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition, “placing the enterprise at the forefront of the world’s potteries” (Evans 1987:257). In 1890, Maria Nichols, now married to Bellamy Storer, withdrew from the firm, leaving Taylor as director. The firm continued to grow, developed rich matte and bright glazes, and emphasized plant and floral designs. The company employed a Japanese artist, Kataro Shiryamadani, who produced many designs reflecting a Japanese aesthetic. Later subjects included portraits of native Americans and historical figures. The firm also introduced pottery with electro-deposited silver overlay designs.
Rookwood developed a matte glaze around 1900 to compete with the forest-green hues of the popular Grueby Faience Company. Unlike Grueby’s glaze, which appeared waxy and leafy, Rookwood’s interpretation often used pastel tones with a vellum-like finish. Rookwood’s earlier Standard Glaze (a deep mahogany brown color graduating into yellow) transitioned into a number of popular blue, green, and lavender glazes, following consumer trends. Rookwood’s prize-winning vellum glaze brought international recognition. Architectural tile production began in 1901, and examples can be seen in the New York subway stations. After 1915, production shifted to more mass-produced ware, “rich, heavy, and simple in color,” which allowed the pottery to survive through two World Wars and the Great Depression (Evans 1987:257). An astonishing “forty thousand glaze formulas were listed at the factory and more than five hundred glazes were in daily use” (Kovel and Kovel 1993:189). In 1956, the firm was moved to Mississippi and finally closed in 1967.
(Evans, Paul, 1987. Art Pottery of the United States. New York: Feingold and Lewis Publishing Corp.; Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
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 Weller Pottery:
Samuel A. Weller founded Weller Pottery in 1987 in Fultonham, Ohio, his hometown. Relocated later to Zanesville to take advantage of both clay deposits and natural gas for the kilns, Weller is credited with producing the first fancy glazed ware in Zanesville in 1893. After acquiring Lonhuda Pottery, Weller began to produce underglaze-decorated artware with subtle color gradations produced with an atomizer, echoing the technique pioneered by Rookwood Pottery. Over the years, Weller, Roseville, and Owens Potteries followed the artistic lead of Rookwood, finding ways to mass produce popular forms and colors. Between 1902 and 1907, Weller Pottery was distinguished by the work of French designer Jacques Sicard, who developed intense metallic lusters on iridescent backgrounds. After 1910, wares were designed to require less individual artistic attention, and by 1915, Weller was the largest art pottery in the world with more than forty salesmen, hundreds of workers, and twenty-five kilns (Kovel and Kovel 1993:244). The art pottery line ended with the death of Samuel Weller in 1925, and all pottery production was discontinued in 1948.
(Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
About the Object:
Urn shape with an outward flaring mouth, moderate neck and high shoulder with long tapering body. Metallic luster glazes with flowers. Ground shading from turquoise to green and to purple. Jacques Sicard decorator.
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 Grueby Pottery: William Grueby (1867-1925), a member of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, began producing bricks, tiles, and architectural terra cotta in 1890 and founded his Grueby Faience Company in 1894 in Revere, Massachusetts. The firm expanded into art pottery in 1897 and was quickly successful, winning exhibition medals at World’s Fairs in Paris and St. Petersburg and the Grand Prize in St. Louis in 1904. A subdued, matte green glaze became the hallmark of the company’s art pottery line and an iconic example of Arts and Crafts design. Grueby work was also distinguished by its forms—inspired by the French Art Nouveau potter, Auguste Delaherche, and the company marketed over a hundred items, from “small cabinet bits to great jars over three feet high” (Kovel and Kovel 1993:60). Hand thrown on the wheel, Grueby pottery was noted for an extensive range of novel matte glazes developed by William Grueby himself. Decoration was applied under the supervision of the designers by young women trained in local Boston art schools. Commonly, plant motifs were applied in a clay relief, in highly stylized designs. Paris dealer Samuel Bing promoted Grueby’s pottery as part of European Art Nouveau, and Grueby pottery was used for Tiffany lamp bases in the United States. Grueby Pottery also gained popularity through being displayed and sold with Gustav Stickley’s Arts and Crafts furniture. Grueby art pottery ended in 1911, though architectural tile production continued in a related firm for several more years. Grueby’s work was very influential but was ultimately unable to compete with firms that mass-produced similar styles at lower cost.
(Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
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 Rookwood Pottery:
Rookwood is one of the most famous of the late nineteenth century art potteries, and it is the most extensively represented in the Smithsonian collection. Maria Longworth Nichols, its founder, began work as a china painter in 1873 and was part of the China Decorating Group in Cincinnati (see About Mary Louise McLaughlin). Inspired by French and Japanese pottery displayed in the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, she began to learn ceramic techniques, and in 1880, her father offered her “an old schoolhouse” that became her working pottery. Her family continued financial support until her father’s death in 1883, when William Watts Taylor joined Rookwood Pottery as an administrator and partner, bringing a new business-oriented approach. Taylor expanded production and hired men decorators for the first time, though the majority of artists employed over the years were women. In 1884, artist Laura Frye innovated the application of underglaze slips using an atomizer, which allowed the subtle gradations of color that became a signature of Rookwood pottery and was adopted elsewhere. In 1889, Rookwood was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition, “placing the enterprise at the forefront of the world’s potteries” (Evans 1987:257). In 1890, Maria Nichols, now married to Bellamy Storer, withdrew from the firm, leaving Taylor as director. The firm continued to grow, developed rich matte and bright glazes, and emphasized plant and floral designs. The company employed a Japanese artist, Kataro Shiryamadani, who produced many designs reflecting a Japanese aesthetic. Later subjects included portraits of native Americans and historical figures. The firm also introduced pottery with electro-deposited silver overlay designs.
Rookwood developed a matte glaze around 1900 to compete with the forest-green hues of the popular Grueby Faience Company. Unlike Grueby’s glaze, which appeared waxy and leafy, Rookwood’s interpretation often used pastel tones with a vellum-like finish. Rookwood’s earlier Standard Glaze (a deep mahogany brown color graduating into yellow) transitioned into a number of popular blue, green, and lavender glazes, following consumer trends. Rookwood’s prize-winning vellum glaze brought international recognition. Architectural tile production began in 1901, and examples can be seen in the New York subway stations. After 1915, production shifted to more mass-produced ware, “rich, heavy, and simple in color,” which allowed the pottery to survive through two World Wars and the Great Depression (Evans 1987:257). An astonishing “forty thousand glaze formulas were listed at the factory and more than five hundred glazes were in daily use” (Kovel and Kovel 1993:189). In 1956, the firm was moved to Mississippi and finally closed in 1967.
(Evans, Paul, 1987. Art Pottery of the United States. New York: Feingold and Lewis Publishing Corp.; Kovel, Ralph and Terry Kovel, 1993. Kovels’ American Art Pottery: The Collector’s Guide to Makers, Marks and Factory Histories. New York: Crown Publishers.)
