The ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement and art nouveau found fertile
ground in the United States as well as Europe. In the United States, such
pottery is often called 'Art Pottery.' The term is used to describe pottery
made with conscious artistic intent between 1876 and 1915, and encompasses
both work by individuals as well as organized manufacturers who employed
potter-designers. The Rookwood Pottery was established by Maria Longworth
Nichols in Cincinnati, Ohio. The pottery began as a pottery circle of wealthy
women who used china painting methods. Nichols felt increasingly constrained
by this as she was interested in experimenting with clay and glaze testing.
She decided to open a commercial production facility modeled on the ideals
of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Her idea was to make each piece by hand
with no machines involved. Rookwood pottery is known for its sensitive use
of art nouveau plant motifs combined with a Japanese sense of subtlety and
restraint and negative space. In 1883, she pioneered the use of the atomizer
to apply underglaze colors, in a sense using an air brush to apply colors
to achieve nuanced graduations of color such as what is seen on the vase
at the right. Rookwood never made a profit however until she brought in
a hard-nosed business manager who convinced her that she need to use 'labor
saving devices' (read assembly line methods) to speed up production. She
took his advice, and Rookwood was in production until 1967 and the work
is highly sought after today.
Rookwood Vases, Earthenware with colored slips, 8.25" ht., 1900
