Nonetheless, I also completely understand that garden wares and art pottery is not everyone's interest, especially when I typically write about earlier products. However, I also wrote about a lawsuit yesterday filed by a prominent Boston potter against the Newburyport company in the early-twentieth century. This should be a subject of interest for most scholars or enthusiasts of domestic pottery production. The lawsuit also shows how competitive this industry had become by the turn of the twentieth century.
When William Grueby sued Nickerson in 1902, claiming that he had copied a green glaze first produced at the Grueby Pottery in South Boston, Massachusetts in the 1880s - he was essentially attempting to create a monopoly with the popular color. Grueby must have known there was a long list of utilitarian potters producing green glazes in coastal Massachusetts long before he came along. It was somewhat of an odd and conceited lawsuit, seeing that Grueby was certainly not the inventor of such a glaze.
In fact, Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (1897-1902) wrote in Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "It must be remembered that a green color was not the monopoly of any one pottery: it was used in Portland, Maine, in Essex County, Massachusetts, southeastern Massachusetts, and in other places."
The Newburyport Daily News published a feature story in the Saturday January 24, 1903 issue of the newspaper, applauding the accomplishments of Nickerson's Merrimac Pottery Company, as well as denouncing the failed lawsuit.“That accusation is not borne out by a careful study and comparison of both wares. Save in the color of certain green pieces, the resemblance is very little; and really the greens of Merrimac, so far as one writer has observed, are not at all comparable to Grueby, with its soft, glove-like surface and finish. The Merrimac has, however, so much to offer in scope of variety (and this cannot be said of Grueby) that very interesting and charming products come up for consideration quite independent of the green specimens. Many of the Merrimac pieces show a cheerful, tender, bright, radiant character, which is wholly lacking in the Grueby. The soft color of the Merrimac is especially pleasing and the metallic glow on some of the articles is most effective, rich and brilliant. This metallic finish is the finer and more acceptable, as seen upon the low-tone pieces, such as on the soft, dull violet, rose and similar colors.”
Interestingly, though, later in 1903 a number of examples of pottery manufactured in Newburyport were selected for an exhibit at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, along with some pieces made at the Newcomb Pottery in New Orleans. The wares from the Grueby Pottery were not included.
This display was also highlighted in the November 2, 1903 issue of the Newburyport Daily News, "At the rooms of the Society of Arts and Crafts, there is an interesting exhibition of American pottery consisting of a considerable number of specimens from the Merrimac Pottery in Newburyport, and a smaller group of examples from the Newcomb Pottery, New Orleans, La. The productions of the Merrimac Pottery are undecorated and glazes are mat, having little or no lustre. The beauty and elegance of the shapes are highly admirable. Some of the forms are Greek and Etruscan, others are Oriental, and all are marked by refinement. The severity of this ware is extremely commendable. The Merrimac Pottery has also made a series of reproduction of the beautiful Arrhetian wares from the moulds in the Museum of Fine Arts taken from gold and silver vases by the Greek artists working in Arrhetium in the time of Augustus. There are eight of these copies in the form of cups and bowls, with figures in low relief, several of the pieces being signed by the artists."
Feature Story and Failed Lawsuit Published in Jan. 24, 1903 Newburyport Daily News
Feature Story About the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.
Published in the January 24, 1903 Issue of the Newburyport Daily News
The Story Also Announces a Failed Lawsuit Filed in 1902 by William Grueby Against the Company
Grueby Claimed the Pottery had Copied his Green Glaze
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News
The Infamous Disputed Green Glazes
(Left and Right) Green Mat Glazes from the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.
Circa 1897-1902
(Middle) Green Glaze Manufactured at William Grueby's Pottery in South Boston, Mass.
Circa Late-19th Century
See Article for More Information
Merrimac Pottery Goes on Display in Boston in 1903
Pottery Exhibit Published in the November 2, 1903 Newburyport Daily News
The Exhibition Took Place at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Newburyport Daily News
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