EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Another Pottery Discovery in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Friday, May 1, 2015

Another Pottery Discovery in Plymouth, Massachusetts

According to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, " (The) Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati (Ohio) was the largest and most important of more than one hundred art potteries in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, lasting from 1880 to 1967. The American Art Pottery movement was largely a reaction to the perceived inferiority of American ceramic ware exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Maria Nichols was so impressed by the ceramics of Japan displayed at the centennial that she persuaded her wealthy father to provide the funds to establish her own pottery. She named it Rookwood after the Longworth country estate. Over the next several years she hired good chemists and excellent artists, who helped to make Rookwood the high-quality art pottery it became. Rookwood was different from usual commercial enterprises. All those involved felt strongly that Rookwood pottery should be marketed as fine art."

Rookwood pottery is represented in museums and prominent collections all-over the United States today (i.e. Smithsonian, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Arts and a countless number of other art museums) - and, in some cases, the world-over.

Yesterday, I was, yet, again in Plymouth, Massachusetts for something I had to pick up - so, rather than just driving south of Boston and back to the North Shore - I decided to check out the group shops in the area that I already had visited last weekend. Surprisingly, I discovered a large example of fine Rookwood Pottery that I may have walked directly passed, without taking notice, less than a week ago - or, it may have been brought into the shop by the dealer earlier this week. Either way, I really don't have an answer; although, I was certainly surprised to see it sitting on a shelf in the middle of the shop. I don't normally seek out examples of pottery from this business (I've never actually owned an example before); however, for only ten-dollars - I couldn't afford to leave it there. I have since given it to my mother. The painted flowers are really quite attractive - initially, they are what drew my eye to this piece. After handling and studying this pot for the past day, I can definitely see why certain examples of Rookwood Pottery are competitively sought out today by collectors, dealers and museums.