19th Century Sketch by Christian Schrader of a Pottery Workshop in Indianapolis, Indiana

According to the Indiana State Library, "Christian Schrader was born in Indiana on January 6, 1842, to John and Johanna Schrader. As a child, Schrader dreamed of making a living as an artist. During the 1850s and 1860s, he learned the importance of history and technique of art with a group of men, including prominent portrait and landscape artist Jacob Cox and Henry Waugh. Schrader predominantly sketched in pencil, using people, buildings and landscapes to record early Indianapolis.

Never identifying himself as a professional artist, Schrader decided on a mercantile career during the 1850s. By 1854, he was a clerk at George G. Homan's dry goods store located in the Odd Fellows building. During the 1860s and 1870s, Schrader worked as a clerk at John Woodbridge & Company, a china and glassware shop on West Washington Street. In 1872, he opened his own store on 116 East Washington Street, known for exquisite china, glassware, queensware, and statuary.

Schrader retired from his business in 1909 and moved to Denver, Colorado to live with his daughter Lotta. Around 1911, he moved to Madison, Indiana to live with his daughter Louise. After retirement, Schrader began pencil drawing once more, renewing his interest in early art sketches he created during the mid to late 1800s.

Schrader is well known for sketching Indianapolis street by street and block by block, accounting for 170 buildings total. He relied on his early sketches to record Indianapolis as well as from his memory and memories from others. 

Christian Schrader died of a stroke on February 20, 1920 in Madison, Indiana."

Over 100 of Schrader's sketches and paintings were published by the Indiana Library and Historical Department in 1987 in a book titled, Indianapolis Remembered: Christian Schrader's Sketches of Early Indianapolis. However, one of these sketches really stood out to me, while recently studying a group of archaeology reports from Illinois; the information on file with the Indiana State Library identifies this sketch as a pottery workshop that was once located in what is today Indianapolis. But it is unclear if this was a business that Schrader sketched while he stood in front of it or if it was a project that he completed from memory.

Sketch of Indianapolis Pottery Workshop

19th Century Sketch by Christian Schrader (1842-1920)

The Sketch Depicts a Pottery Workshop Located in What is Today Indianapolis, IN

Probably Circa 1850s or 1860s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Indiana State Library

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