Inexpensive Decorative Ceramics

There has always been a market for inexpensive giftware, dime-store pottery, grocery-store premiums, kitchen sets, florist ware, and other inexpensive decorative pieces. During the twentieth century, some were made in the United States, some in other countries. Many of the more collectible pieces today—especially figural vases, bottles, and containers—were designed by importers in the United […]

California Potteries and Marks

Pottery Location Dates American Pottery Los Angeles, California 1940–1946 Architectural Pottery Los Angeles, California 1950–1971 Batchelder Ceramics Pasadena, California 1936–1951 J. A. Bauer Pottery Los Angeles, California 1909–1962 Marc Bellaire Culver City, California early 1950s–1994 Sascha Brastoff Los Angeles, California 1947–1973 Brayton Laguna Laguna Beach, California 1927–1968 California Faience Berkeley, California 1924–early 1950s (stopped making […]

Glidden Pottery

Glidden Parker established Glidden Pottery in Alfred, New York, in 1940. The pottery made stoneware dinnerware and art objects, including bowls, vases, teapots, platters, and ashtrays. The pieces were often the newest mid-century modern shapes and colors. They were individually glazed and hand painted. By 1946 the pottery was producing 6,000 pieces a week. Glidden […]

Catalina Marks

Early pieces were marked with an ink stamp. Later an incised mark Catalina, Catalina Island, Catalina Isle, or Catalina Island Pottery was used. A silver and black paper label is found on some pieces. Catalina Pottery pieces made by Gladding, McBean are marked Catalina Pottery and often also have Made in USA as part of […]

Jugtown Pottery (1917–Present)

The term “jugtown” was used to mock any community where potters made useful bowls and jugs. In 1918 Jacques (1870–1947) and Juliana (1876–1962) Busbee of Raleigh, North Carolina, opened a teahouse in New York City where they sold pottery from their home state. They opened their own pottery, the Jugtown Pottery, near Seagrove, North Carolina, […]

Studio Potters and Their Marks

Pottery Location Birth and Death Dates Marks Laura Andreson Los Angeles, California (1902–1999) Alexander Archipenko New York, New York (1887–1964) Arthur E. Baggs Columbus, Ohio (1886–1947) F. Carlton Ball Oakland, California (1911–1992) Charles Fergus Binns New York, New York (1857–1934) Paul Bogatay Columbus, Ohio (1905–1972) Cornelius Brauckman Los Angeles, California 1864–1952 Rose Cabat Tucson, Arizona […]

Glen Lukens (1887–1967)

Glen Lukens studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1913, then developed a pottery program to rehabilitate wounded soldiers returning from World War I. He was fascinated by the bright blue glaze on an Egyptian figure he had seen in a museum, and in 1924 he went to California to try to recreate […]

Twentieth-Century American Art Potteries

Pottery Location Dates in Business Art pottery was made at these potteries, sometimes for only a short time. Alberhill Pottery Alberhill, California 1912–1914 Albery Novelty Pottery Evanston, Illinois 1913–1915 American Art Clay Company/AMACO Indianapolis, Indiana 1919–present (art pottery 1930–1937) Arc-en-Ciel Pottery/Brighton Pottery Zanesville, Ohio 1903–1907 Arequipa Fairfax, California 1911–1918 Avon Works/Faience Pottery Company Tiltonville, Ohio […]

Nineteenth-Century American Art Potteries

Pottery and Location Date Mark American Art Clay Works Edgerton, Wisconsin (Renamed Edgerton Art Clay Works in 1895) 1892-1895 Avon Pottery Cincinnati, Ohio 1886-1888 Edwin Bennett Baltimore, Maryland 1845-1936 John Bennett New York, New York 1877-1883 Brush Guild New York, New York c.1897-1908 Chelsea Keramic Art Works Chelsea, Massachusetts 1875-1889 Chelsea Pottery Chelsea, Massachusetts 1866-1875 […]

University City Pottery (1909–1915)

In 1907 Edward Gardner Lewis founded the American Woman’s League in University City, Missouri, to educate women. In 1909 Taxile Doat, the famous French potter from Sèvres, came to the United States to organize, teach, and work at the League’s pottery. Other well-known artists at University City Pottery included Adelaide Alsop Robineau, Frederick Hürten Rhead, […]