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Zsolnay
Art Nouveau belonged to the major cities of Europe — Paris, Glasgow, and Berlin — with one major exception. The small Hungarian town of Pecs (PAY-shh) produced some of the period’s most significant, colorful and creative pottery.
Hungarian native Jozsef Rippl-Ronai brought the sensuous whiplash lines of the Secessionist Movement, as Art Nouveau was called in Eastern Europe, across the Austrian Alps from Paris. Also contributing to the Secessionist’s foothold in Hungary was [...] Click here to continue reading.
Detrick Distilling Co. Motto Jugs
Around the turn of the 20th century the Detrick Distilling Company of Dayton, Ohio, issued a series of miniature “motto” jugs. These jugs were 4 inches or so high and are properly described as two-toned stoneware with an Albany slip top and Bristol glaze body. They were made with two different tops, one conical and one more rounded.
Detrick jugs were issued with twelve different mottoes, not tied to [...] Click here to continue reading.
Teco Art Pottery
Chicago entrepreneur William Day Gates made his fortune in architectural terra cotta before turning to art pottery. Terra cotta was extremely popular among turn-of-the-century builders and architects as a lightweight, immensely adaptable alternative to stone. Its fireproof qualities appealed to builders in the wake of the devastating Chicago fire of 1871.
At the midpoint of America’s art pottery period, 1899, Gates incorporated Gates Potteries. It was an endeavor born of expertise [...] Click here to continue reading.
Pisgah Forest Pottery
At the 2006 Arts & Crafts Conference pottery dealer and former American Art Pottery Association President Linda Carrigan described Pisgah Forest Pottery as “underappreciated.” She listed the North Carolina pottery among the most collectible art pottery in the post-1925 period.
Walter B. Stephen (1876 to 1961) opened Pisgah Forest Pottery in 1926. It barely survives today (2006) operated by Stephen’s step-grandson, Tom Case assisted by contemporary potter Rodney Leftwich.
Stephen’s [...] Click here to continue reading.
Sally Abney Rose
The late Sally Abney Rose (1915 to 2005) had an eye for aesthetics, and appreciated beauty in the garden as well as the home. She was an accredited flower judge, and founder of Our Garden Club in Anderson, South Carolina. Her acquisitive nature and wide ranging tastes are hinted at in her extensive collection of antiques and decorative arts. She collected early South Carolina and Georgia furniture and country accessories, but [...] Click here to continue reading.
Royal Bonn
Royal Bonn is the trade and collector’s name for earthenware made by the Franz Anton Mehlem Earthenware Factory in Bonn, located in the Rhineland region of Germany. The factory was founded in 1836 and continued in operation until 1921 when it was purchased by Villeroy & Boch, which eventually closed it in 1931.
Royal Bonn’s greatest period of productivity was from the 1880′s to 1921, during which time it was known for [...] Click here to continue reading.
The Fall of Phaeton
Helios (Apollo), the Greek god who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky by day, had a son, Phaeton, by a human mother, Cleymene. With the rashness of youth, Phaeton tricked his father into letting him drive the chariot. Ignoring Helios’ stern warnings about his mortal frailty, Phaeton took the reins. The horses, sensing his weakness, bolted out of control, scorching everything in their path with the sun’s [...] Click here to continue reading.
China Fairings
Made between 1860 and 1900, primarily for the English market, these figural Victorian china boxes for holding trinkets, pins, matches, etc. were given as prizes at English fairs, hence the name “fairings”. These boxes were generally made in Germany by companies such as Conta and Boehme of Possneck, Thuringia.
Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony
As noted in Popular Woodworking, furniture built by the Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony between 1903 and 1905 is rare, unusual and expensive. Instead of pricey quartersawn white oak, many Byrdcliffe pieces were built from inexpensive poplar. And instead of the fussy ammonia fuming process used by many Arts & Crafts manufacturers to color their furniture, many Byrdcliffe pieces were left uncolored to show off the grain.Scholars are unsure [...] Click here to continue reading.
Chinese Ruyi
Visitors to Beijing’s Forbidden City will notice a valuable exhibit called ruyi (formerly spelled as juyi) with a head like a shred of cloud and a long body or handle in the shape of a flat S. It may be made of any of a wide range of valuable materials: gold, jade, jadeite, crystal, agate, coral, agolloch eaglewood, bamboo, bone and what not. And the workmanship is often quite meticulous: it is [...] Click here to continue reading.
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