Art Pottery

About Art Pottery

The art pottery movement began in the 1870s in America and Britain, coinciding roughly with the beginning of the Arts and Crafts movement, which gained momentum in the 1880s. Art pottery was more elaborate than utilitarian pottery, and early pieces were usually hand-decorated, signed by the artist, and produced in limited numbers.

Many companies known for their art pottery, like Rookwood, Roseville, Frankoma, and Weller, were founded in the American Midwest in the 1880s and 1890s. Drawing on local deposits of clay and minerals, most of these companies started by making simple, decorative pottery pieces or utilitarian pieces such as flowerpots and other garden ware. ...

What ultimately set these companies apart were their ornamental designs. Rookwood and other Midwestern companies took inspiration from Asian designs and Art Nouveau styles, creating pieces that were both functional and beautiful. They worked in a variety of popular forms, from vases to bowls to wall sconces and decorative tiles.

Some art pottery makers, like Rookwood, eventually grew into large operations, producing pieces in quantity and marketing them nationally via department stores and catalogs. But many smaller studios also thrived in the heyday of hand thrown and decorated art pottery.

Other noteworthy makers of art pottery include Hull, McCoy, Charles Volkmar, Chelsea Keramic, Lonhuda, George Ohr, Newcomb College, Grueby Faience, Adelaide Alsop Robineau, Artus Van Briggle, and the Saturday Evening Girls.

In the U.S., interest in art pottery waned in the 1940s and many once-famous companies disappeared.

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Interviews & Articles

An Interview With Rookwood Art Pottery Collector Riley Humler

I don’t remember the first Rookwood piece I ever bought, that’s getting close to 40 years ago. But I must… [more]

An Interview With Gouda Pottery Collector Stuart Lonsdale

I think it all started with a small pottery vase my mother obtained from the art pottery shop where she worke… [more]

An Interview With Cowan Art Pottery Museum Curator Carol Jacobs

I’m the curator here at the museum in Rocky River, a suburb west of Cleveland. I look at Cowan pottery from… [more]

American Art Pottery

Art pottery may be defined as intentionally decorative or ornamental ware but while the term "pottery" is usu… [more]

An Interview With Howard Coutts, Ceramics Curator Of The Bowes Museum

I’m the curator of the ceramics bit of the Bowes Museum. It’s a big museum with 30 galleries of which thr… [more]

Pennsylvania Pin-Decorated Slipware

A goal for the collector is old pin-decorated slipware. Even run-of-the-mill slipware does not grow on trees,… [more]

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Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

Gouda Design

Gouda Design

Stuart Lonsdale and Kim Lindley's excellent tribute to and reference on Gouda Dutch Art Pottery and Delftware. The … [read review or visit site]

Piggy Banks and Famous Potteries

Piggy Banks and Famous Potteries

Roger Owen's showcase of over 180 beautiful 20th century British and European piggy banks, with background on their… [read review or visit site]

Cowan Pottery Museum Associates

Cowan Pottery Museum Associates

Dedicated to raising awareness of the ceramic art work of R. Guy Cowan and his Cowan Pottery Studio in northeastern… [read review or visit site]

The Pottery Studio

The Pottery Studio

This 7,000-plus page site lives up to its self-billing as a 'knowledge base' with examples of work from all major a… [read review or visit site]

Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

A good reference resource for anyone interested in the pottery of Clarice Cliff (1899-1972), who had her heyday in … [read review or visit site]

Potsherd

Potsherd

Paul Tyers' reference site on pottery and ceramics from the Roman period in Britain and Western Europe. Includes a … [read review or visit site]


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1870's Anna Pottery Folk Art St. Louis * Pig Rye Flask$3,500 Ends Wednesday 15 bids 46 watchers
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Fabulous Large Rookwood Vase By Charles S. Todd$2,025 Ends Sunday 4 bids 35 watchers
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Anna Pottery Illinois Inkwell J. C. Peeler Clerk 1898$1,814 Ends Monday 27 bids 51 watchers
Picasso *taureau Marli Aux Feuilles* Madoura Plate 1957$1,570 Ends Monday 9 bids 26 watchers
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Perfect Dante Baldelli Female Head Art Deco Italy Vase$1,175 Ends Tuesday 57 bids 27 watchers
Rare Large Goldscheider Art Deco Figure -lorenzl$1,113 Ends Sunday 14 bids 71 watchers
Newcomb College Bowl 11" Diameter 4" Tall Buy it Now$1,000.00 Ends Tuesday 13 bids 15 watchers
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Gustav Gurschner Austrian Art Nouveau Bronze Signed$560.00 Ends Friday 5 bids 1 watcher
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Huge Royal Dux Sea Maiden Amphora Art Nouveau Vase 1900$559.99 Ends Sunday 7 bids 47 watchers
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Ciboure 20's Art Deco French Ceramic Art Pottery$510.00 Ends Monday 4 bids 19 watchers
Rare Ettore Sottsass Bitossi Montelupo Italy Vase 1955$501.00 Ends Monday 14 bids 62 watchers
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Recent News: Art Pottery

Source: Google News

Students show off creations
Marshall News Messenger, November 20th

By ROBYN CLARIDY, News Messenger Children, parents and other guests from nine local elementary schools gathered in the Michelson Museum of Art as their...Read more

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Art Pottery

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