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Rookwood Art Pottery
About Rookwood Art Pottery
Founded in 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols, Rookwood pottery is a favorite of collectors for the quality of its pieces, which were hand-decorated by a diverse group of artists (though some simpler pieces were mass-produced, especially during the Depression).
Rookwood pieces were sold at the factory showroom and at jewelry and department stores nationwide. Drawing from European and Asian styles, the company was very involved with the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, and its pieces are still prized as some of the best examples of those styles...
In addition to its signature vases, Rookwood also produced architectural tile and smaller items such as bookends, paperweights and figurines. There were between 20 and 25 artists decorating pieces at the Rookwood factory at any given time (some of the most notable included Kataro Shirayamadani, Albert Valentine, Sara Sax, and Jens Jensen).
Rookwood’s artists were innovative and helped change the way art pottery was created and designed. Kataro Shirayamadani covered the entire piece with decoration versus just the front as was previously done, and Laura Fry created the atomizer, allowing artists to evenly apply glazes and use color gradations. In the early 1900s, Rookwood began using matte finishes and vellum glaze, a translucent matte glaze.
Collectors should note that the vast majority of Rookwood pieces are very clearly marked. Very early pieces say “Rookwood,” and later pieces (starting in the mid-1880s) feature the Rookwood logo: a backwards R and P side-by-side. Rookwood closed its factory in the 1960s, but the copyright has been continuously enforced.
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Upcoming Events
- 58th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival
Mar 19–21. Fairhope, AL. - The Flower Fields Annual Arts & Crafts Fair
Apr 10–11. Carlsbad, CA. - American Museum of Ceramic Art Let's Table This
Jan 23–Apr 24. Pomona, CA.
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 have like… [more]
Rookwood, Pioneer American Art Pottery
The Rookwood Pottery has gone to war. This pioneer among American art potteries, founded by Maria Longworth Storer … [more]
An Interview With Roycroft Arts and Crafts Metalwork Collector David Kornacki
I started collecting Roycroft around 1992 when I visited the Peter Roberts Gallery in New York City. That was sort … [more]
An Interview With Arts and Crafts Silver and Jewelry Collector Paul Somerson
How did I get started collecting Arts and Crafts silver? My wife and I had been collecting Arts and Crafts items as… [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 worked in t… [more]
An Interview with Arts and Crafts Jewelry Collector and Author Elyse Karlin
I started collecting jewelry when I was about 13 years old. I was very close to an interior designer who took me to… [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 a histo… [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 three or four… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
LACMA Arts and Crafts
This microsite from the LA County Museum of Art provides a good overview of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe … [read review or visit site]
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]
Modernism
An overview by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts of the design movements between 1880 and 1940 that comprised Moder… [read review or visit site]
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]
Chicago Silver
Paul Somerson's incredible reference on handwrought metalwork from the American Arts and Crafts movement of the ear… [read review or visit site]
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]
1910 Metal
A detailed tribute to the lesser-known artistic metalwork craftsmen of the Arts and Crafts movement. In addition t… [read review or visit site]
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]
Benedict Studio
Dedicated to art metalwork produced in Syracuse, New York during the height of the Art and Crafts movement, this si… [read review or visit site]
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
Paul Tyers' reference site on pottery and ceramics from the Roman period in Britain and Western Europe. Includes a … [read review or visit site]
Got a site to suggest? Let us know.
Clubs & Associations: Art Pottery
- Clarice Cliff Collectors Club
- Hull Pottery Association
- American Art Pottery Association
- McCoy Pottery Collectors Society
- Majolica International Society
- Honiton Pottery Collectors Society
Discussion Forums: Art Pottery
Other Great Reference Sites: Art Pottery
- Architecture and Design of the Prairie School
- Benedict Studio Syracuse Art Metal
- Learn About Style: Arts and Crafts
- Cheltenham Art Gallery: Arts and Crafts
- Craftsman Perspective
- The Arts and Crafts Society
- Roycroft Campus Corporation
- American Museum of Ceramic Art
- Roseville Pottery Information Center
- Chiquitas McCoy Pottery
- Fulper.net
- Collecting Velsen Pottery
- Beth's Wall Pockets
Are we missing one? Tell us.
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Recent News: Rookwood Art Pottery
Source: Google News
Design of the Century: Property from LA Philanthropist Nancy M. Daly to ...
Art Daily, March 20thVase by William P. McDonald exhibited in the famed Paris 1900 exhibition and depicted in the publication Rookwood Pottery: The Glorious Gamble (est...Read more
Treasure hunt: Event gives community a chance to gauge value of collectibles ...
Prescott Daily Courier, March 12thDemski was not sure if Weller Pottery or Rookwood Pottery, two old Ohio-based companies, crafted the piece. "It's too good to be junk and it's not marked to...Read more
Sharon Boccelli & Company Auctioneers
Antiques and the Arts Online, March 12th
others Porcelain Pottery & Glass:: Rookwood claret by Valentien, sev. lots, several lots of Wedgwood, Limoge, Mintons, Dedham, Mt. Washington satin,...Read more
Cincinnati named new business hot spot
The News Record, March 9thRookwood Pottery is one of the businesses that contributed to the rise. The company, based in Over the Rhine, was established by Maria Longworth in 1880...Read more
Cincinnati Highly Rated For Business Expansion
WCPO, March 3rdJust a few of the major projects that have fueled economic growth in the past year include Hollywood Casino, Rookwood Pottery, Ecotech, and Logoplaste...Read more
Hear 'The Rookwood Pottery Story' at Westwood Historical meeting
Cincinnati.com, February 25thDuring the March 10 Westwood Historical Society meeting, Christopher Rose, CEO of Rookwood Pottery, will tell “The Rookwood Pottery Story...Read more
Eclectic Sale Draws Variety Of Bidders To CRN Auction
Antiques and the Arts Online, February 23rdThe pair of Rookwood covered jars decorated by Ohio artist William Hentschel with a Persian design of leaves and birds on blue glaze realized $1255...Read more
Hatch to conduct huge estates auction Feb. 26-27
Auction Central News, February 22ndA nice group of Southern pottery will also be offered, to include Roseville, Rookwood, Weller and even a couple of pieces by Pablo Picasso...Read more
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