Rookwood Pottery Company

Rookwood Pottery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
View from Holy Cross Monastery
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Coordinates	39°6′26″N 84°30′3″W / 39.10722°N 84.50083°W / 39.10722; -84.50083Coordinates: 39°6′26″N 84°30′3″W / 39.10722°N 84.50083°W / 39.10722; -84.50083
Built	1892
Architect	H. Neill Wilson (and later expanded)
NRHP Reference #	72001023[1]
Added to NRHP	December 05, 1972

A Rookwood vase made by Carl (Charles) Schmidt (ca. 1904), on display at the De Young Museum in San Francisco

Rookwood Pottery is an American ceramics company now located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1880, and successful until the Great Depression, production has been intermittent and at a low level since 1967, though there was a change of ownership in 2006, and expansion is planned.

History

Maria Longworth Nichols Storer, daughter of wealthy Joseph Longworth, founded Rookwood Pottery in 1880 as a result of being inspired by what she saw at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, including Japanese and French ceramics. The first Rookwood Pottery was located in a renovated school house on Eastern Avenue which had been purchased by Maria's father at a sheriff's sale in March 1880. Mrs. Storer named it Rookwood, after her father's country estate near the city in Walnut Hills.^[2] The first ware came from the kiln on Thanksgiving Day of that year. Through years of experimentation with glazes and kiln temperatures, Rookwood pottery became a popular American art pottery, designed to be at least as decorative as it is useful. For more than a decade, beginning with Rookwood's founding, Clara Chipman Newton worked there as a china decorator, archivist, and general assistant with the title of secretary; she shared with Storer responsibility for overseeing the decoration and glazing.^[3] The artist Laura Anne Fry worked at Rookwood as a painter and teacher from 1881 to 1888.^[4]

The second Rookwood Pottery building, on top of Mount Adams, was built in 1891-1892 by H. Neill Wilson, who was son of prominent Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson.

Each era of Rookwood work has its own unique character. The earliest work is relief-worked on colored clay, in red, pinks, greys and sage or olive greens. Some were gilt, or had stamped patterns, and some were carved. Often these were painted or otherwise decorated by the purchaser of the "greenware" (unfinished piece), a precursor to today's do-it-yourself movement. However, such personally decorated pieces are not usually considered Rookwood for purposes of sale or valuation.

After this period, Storer sought a "standard" look for Rookwood and developed the "Standard Glaze," a yellow-tinted, high-gloss clear glaze often used over leaf or flower motifs. A series of portraits — often of generic American Indian characters or certain historical figures — were also produced using the Standard Glaze. A variant on the Standard Glaze was the less-common but very collectible "tiger eye" which appears only on a red clay base. Tiger Eye produces a golden shimmer deep within the glaze; however, it was unpredictable and it is not clear whether it was abandoned for reasons of chemistry or popularity.

Rookwood also produced pottery in the Japonism trend, after Storer invited Japanese artist Kitaro Shirayamadani to come to Cincinnati in 1887 to work for the company. Davis Collamore & Co., a high-end New York City importer of porcelain and glass, were Rookwood's representatives at the Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889.^[5]

In 1894, Rookwood introduced three glazes: "Iris" a remarkably clear, colorless glaze, "Sea Green" which was clear but green-tinted, and "Aerial Blue" which was clear but blue-tinted. The latter glaze was produced for just one year, while the two former glazes were used for more than a decade.

With increased interest in the American Arts & Crafts Movement, a matte glaze was needed which could be used over under-glaze decoration (largely floral and scenic). Rookwood responded in 1904 with the introduction of the "Vellum" glaze, which presented a matte surface but through which could be seen the slightly frosted-appearing decoration beneath.

Buildings where the pottery was manufactured in 1904.

One of the last glaze lines of Rookwood was "Ombroso," not used until after 1910. Ombroso, used on cut or incised pottery, is a brown or black matte glaze.

In 1902, Rookwood added architectural pottery to its portfolio. Under the direction of William Watts Taylor, this division rapidly gained national and international acclaim. Many flat pieces were used around fireplaces in homes in Cincinnati and surrounding areas, while custom installations found their places in grand homes, hotels, and public spaces. Original Rookwood-installed tiles can be viewed in Carew Tower, Union Terminal and Dixie Terminal in Cincinnati,^[6] as well as the Rathskeller Room at the The Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, Kentucky. In New York City, the Vanderbilt Hotel, Grand Central Station, Lord & Taylor, and several subway stops feature Rookwood tiles.

The 1920s were highly prosperous years for Rookwood. The pottery employed about 200 workers, including future sculptor Erwin Frey^[7] and received almost 5,000 visitors to the Mount Adams business each year.

Rookwood Vase

The company was hit hard by the Great Depression. Art pottery became a low priority, and architects could no longer afford Rookwood tiles and mantels. By 1934, Rookwood showed its first loss, and by 1936 the company was operating an average of just one week a month. Several employees, most notably Harold Bopp, William Hentschel and David Seyler, left the company and started Kenton Hills Porcelains in Erlanger, Kentucky. On April 17, 1941, Rookwood filed for bankruptcy. Through these tough times, ownership of the company changed hands, but the Rookwood artists remained.

In 1959 Rookwood was purchased by the Herschede Clock Company, and production moved to Starkville, Mississippi. Unable to recover from the losses experienced during the Great Depression, production ceased in 1967.

Revival

By 1982, Rookwood was in negotiations to be sold to overseas manufacturers. Michigan dentist and art pottery collector Arthur Townley used his life savings to purchase all of the remaining Rookwood assets. During his tenure as Rookwood’s owner, Townley produced small quantities of pieces to maintain the original trademarks. Townley refused offers to sell Rookwood for over two decades, but eventually collaborated with Cincinnati investors in 2004 to move the company back to Cincinnati. In July 2006, after approximately one year of negotiations, The Rookwood Pottery Company entered into a contract to acquire all of the remaining assets of the original Rookwood Pottery from Townley. These assets included, among other things, the trademarks, more than 3,000 original molds, and hundreds of glaze recipes used by the original Rookwood Pottery Company.

Today, Rookwood Pottery is owned by Martin and Marilyn Wade and operates from a production studio in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.^[8] The company is in full production, having invested in new kilns and equipment and hired new staff.^[9] Rookwood Pottery also works with many major institutions to create awards and commemorative pieces. Rookwood Pottery artist Roy Robinson, for example, designed the Center Court Rookwood Cup for the ATP World Tour.^[10]

In 2012 the historic Monroe Building of Chicago completed a restoration of its original architectural elements to include the reconditioning and replacement of thousands of original Rookwood Pottery tiles.^[11] In the summer 2013, a fireplace created by Rookwood Pottery in collaboration with artists at the University of Cincinnati was installed at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.^[12] Describing the collaboration, co-owner Marilyn Wade said: “Our goal in working with these three talented artists is to reposition Rookwood Pottery to what it was originally – a forward-thinking company with its eye on the future, willing to take risks, and in the vanguard of the industry, by affiliating ourselves with like-minded artists.” Rookwood Pottery in 2013 was featured on the Martha Stewart Living Blog^[13] and on the Science Channel program “How It’s Made”.^[14]

A dedicated gallery of Rookwood Pottery is in the Cincinnati Wing of the Cincinnati Art Museum.^[15]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rookwood Pottery Company.

External links

• Rookwood Pottery Company
• Rookwood Pottery Information
• Where Rookwood Pottery is Made, National Magazine, October 1905 (with photos)