Learn about your antiques and collectibles with Georgia Caraway

This week’s topic is Art Pottery. This is a short primer on just a few of the better-known American Art Potteries

COWAN POTTERY STUDIO 1912-1931

R Guy Cowan came from a family of potters who for several generations worked in East Liverpool, Ohio He became a potter before he finished high school He started his pottery in 1912 with the help of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce The very earliest pottery made bore the name Lakewood In the beginning they used red clay The pottery shut down in 1917 when he went to war and reopened in 1919 at the old location The redware body was replaced with English white clays when they moved in 1920 to Rocky River, Ohio. By the late 1920s over 175,000 pieces were being made and offered in approximately 1500 retail outlets across the country. Lakeware was offered from 1927-1931 for the dime stores. The Cowan Potters Inc was formed in 1929 with plans to build a new plant. But this never came to fruition, as the pottery was a casualty of the Great Depression

MARKS: Cowan Pottery, Lakeware, Cowan with “RG” under, or “CR ”

FULPER POTTERY 1899-1929

W H Fulper, Jr incorporated Fulper Pottery Inc in 1899 after nearly a century of production of utilitarian stoneware under various company titles and managements He was responsible for the development of Fulper’s art pottery production In 1909, he ventured into the art pottery field with a line named Vasekraft They used the same heavy clay body used for their utility ware. Although shapes were unadorned and simple, the glazes they used had such flair and imagination that each piece was considered a work of art. The Arts and Crafts style makes them highly collectible and expensive –from $200-more than $10,000.

During WWI, doll’s heads and Kewpies were made to meet the demand for hard-to-find imports Martin Stangl joined Fulper in 1910 and was responsible for new glazes introduced into the Vasekraft line He left for five years, and then returned in 1920 The plant was destroyed by fire and Stangl took over the company in 1930 Art pottery was produced on a reduced scale until 1935, and then production switched to dinnerware and figurines The company name changed in 1955 to Stangl Pottery MARKS: vertical Fulper, a horizontal mark Fulper, a Vasekraft paper label Rafco, Prang, and Flemington

GRUEBY

POTTERY and GRUEBY

FAIENCE and TILE CO. 1894-1921

William Henry Grueby joined the firm of Low Art Tile Works at the age of 13. After several years of architectural tile experience he started his own company in 1894, the Grueby Faience Company, Boston Grueby began experimenting with the idea of producing art pottery and soon perfected a fine glaze (soft and without gloss) in shades of blue, gray, yellow, brown, and cucumber green Grueby Pottery was incorporated in 1907 to produce art pottery Wares were hand thrown and hand decorated in the Arts and Crafts style

Grueby tiles were often a full inch thick The pottery was incompatible with the Art Nouveau style and due to inexpensive reproductions; the art pottery was discontinued in 1910

The pottery burned in 1913, and W. H. Grueby no longer directed the pottery after that. The plant was rebuilt and continued making architectural products until 1921. MARKS: Grueby Pottery Boston USA; Grueby Boston MASS or Grueby Faience in a circle

ROOKWOOD

Maria Longworth Nichols (Storer) established Rookwood Pottery in 1880 in Cincinnati Ohio The pottery was named after her childhood home Rookwood She started making pottery in the 1870s as a part of a women’s group studying the art of china painting The pottery operated with great success until the Depression when it suffered financial difficulties From then on the quality deteriorated although it remained in business until 1960 During its 80 years in production, more than 40,000 glaze formulae were developed, 500 of which were in daily use in the 1930s. MARKS: Rookwood Pottery, Ohio, on earliest, an anchor in 1882, Rookwood and the year from 1882-1886, and then in 1886, the mark became a reverse “RP” monogram with a flame point added above it for each succeeding year until 1900. After that, a Roman numeral added below indicated the year of manufacturer Impressed letters also indicated type of clay

Van Briggle Pottery

Established in 1901 in Colorado Springs CO by Artus Van Briggle who had worked with Maria Storer of Rookwood Van Briggle went to Paris and studied under Rodin He and his wife Anne worked together at the pottery Its exceptional glazes, elegant forms, and simple decoration characterized their ware Artus died in 1904, but his wife Anne continued the work until 1912 The pottery was reorganized and went through numerous owners until 1969 when controlling interest was sold to an employee. Van Briggle is still operating making new designs and repros of old designs.

MARKS: A A Van Briggle Colo. Spgs

Easter in Howe

Three Piggy Opera

an annual event for Mrs. Liss' second grade music class.