Dedham Pottery

Dedham pottery is the perfect culmination of the things I love; bunnies, pottery, and Boston history. Did you know that the first blue and white rabbit crackle glaze pieces were actually made in Chelsea? 

 Chelsea Pottery

I know that Chelsea Massachusetts is a town across the river from Boston. But for the record we locals refer to every town with in a fifty mile radius of Boston, as Boston.  Back to Chelsea, the famous potter Hugh Robertson of Chelsea Kermaic Art Works, whom this talented blogger wrote about on Wednesday, started a new endeavor making a line of commercial tableware for the home. While his Dragon’s Blood vases where of huge importance to the Art pottery movement and acclaimed at the San Francisco World’s Fair  and the Paris Expedition, his company wasn’t a commercial success, and closed.

Dedham Pottery Factory Dedham, MA

A year later in 1890 Robertson was propositioned by Boston investors to start a new pottery business. Robertson and his new partners decided to produce a new line of blue and white crackle glaze dishware. In 1891 Robertson opened Chelsea Pottery and started making his now famous rabbit design. These blue and white pieces with the crackle glaze that he discovered years before when trying to reproduce oriental porcelain glazes, was his modern take on oriental blue and white porcelain.  Robertson had married his love of oriental techniques with his investors need for commercial success. Of course Robertson’s new line was very successful. Who could resist blue and white pottery with whimsical designs? Also the Arts and Crafts movement and the popularity of Japanese designs had made oriental and nature based decoration all the rage with the general public.

Baby Chicks Pattern

Robertson’s new endeavor had only one problem, the town of Chelsea is close to the ocean and that great sea air was distressing the crackling process and they had to move.  They found a great site about 15 miles away in the delightfully landlocked town of Dedham, hence changing the name to Dedham Pottery.  The blue and white pottery was a huge commercial success. They did briefly  introduce a green line of Dedham Pottery that was no popular at all. A green Dedham piece is a rare find.

This new success allowed Hugh Robertson to go back to making his dragon’s blood vases as well as continuing his experiments with glazes, making one glaze that had the look of lava. Sadly he died in 1908.

Sold for $1200 at Auction

Hugh’s son William Robertson would take over the Dedham pottery and keep producing their popular rabbits and continued to produce 50 more animal and nature themes including: turkeys, swans, ducks, turtles, butterflies, roses, lilies, azaleas, trees, and rare experimental patterns like the double scottie dog plate pictured on the left. It’s important to know that every piece of Dedham pottery is decorated by hand, not stamped or stenciled, making each piece unique.

Why Rabbits?

The first rabbit design was created by art student Alice Morse and her professor Joseph Lindon Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston. A contest was held to make the first design for the crackled pottery line, and if you can believe it, the pair won the $25 cash prize. That prize calculates in to about $700.00 today.

Elephant Creamer

They also didn't just produce plates they made a full range of dishware and tableware including; plates in four sizes, mugs, bowls, service pieces, pitchers, egg cups, tea cups & saucers, and more. They even made special order custom pieces and sets.

See Maude's Circle Signature

They made their full range of 50+ patterns products with never more than 6 employees at a time. They had people to make the molded pieces, potters to make the thrown pieces, and of course the decorators. The most well know decorator Maude R. Davenport, she was a local girl who started working for Dedham Pottery in 1904 until 1928. She started when she was only 20 years-old, but because of her delicate brush work she quickly became recognized as the most gifted decorator. She signed her work with a tiny circle and her pieces are quite collectible. Her brother Charles came to work there in 1914 and notably designed the elephant pattern.

Owl Pattern

Magnolia Pattern

 William Robertson’s son J. Milton Robertson also worked there. J. Milton Robertson was the 7^th generation of the Robertson family to be a potter and after his father William’s death in 1929, he started running Dedham Pottery. Also J. Milton had learned the secret art of making the Dragon’s Blood glaze and continued to make them. Sadly we don't know if the secrets of the famous red glaze died wigth him.


Hugh Robertson had started a Dedham Pottery Museum on site and visitors could see the finest pieces that were made each year. The museum contained one of a kind Dedham Pottery pieces, as well as many experimental pieces prized by the Robertson family. William and J. Milton after him continued to add pieces to the museum each year. 

Butterfly Pattern

J. Milton also made the important addition in 1938 of a complete Dedham Pottery catalog. This booklet has become very collectible today and sells for $50-80 dollars.  In 1943 sales were down, the country was involved in World War II and J. Milton Robertson  closed the Dedhan Pottery and joined the Navy as a commander.   I did find some references to him in later years being an authority on Dedham pottery but I don't know what happened to him.

Rare Beehive Print

Dedham Pottery was closed such a sad day for an important part of Boston and pottery history. An article published in 1943 written by By Braset Marteau says that “Visitors to Boston have usually included a trip to the Dedham Pottery on their "must" list. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts included this as one of its conducted tours for students of the ceramic arts.”  What was worse than the factory being closed the hundreds of important pieces in the museum and thousands of pieces in the factory were liquidated at Gimbel Brother’s Art Department. Cab you imagine a Dedham Pottery blow out sale? Marteau continues ”Here lucky collectors may acquire a piece of this wonderful ware for as little as one dollar or as much as a few hundred dollars”.  

One of those “few hundred dollar” dragon’s blood vases would sell for $5000-8000 today. Those bargain  one dollar pieces of Dedham Pottery will most likely sell for $100-200 dollars today, such a small price to pay for an important piece of Boston history. 

Rare Lobster Pattern

Buying Dedham Pottery

Always look for marks on the back of the plates.

1892-1895: C.P.U.S. (Chelsea Pottery U.S.) impressed inside a clover leaf.

1896-1928: Square blue stamp with DEDHAM POTTERY printed over a rabbit; impressed foreshortened rabbit beneath.

1929-1943: REGISTERED added under standard Dedham Pottery stamp; two impressed foreshortened rabbits beneath.

Dedham Pottery Reproductions

Two Massachusetts companies are presently producing replicas of earlier forms. Each of these retro replica versions is clearly and properly marked to avoid any collector confusion with the pre-1943 antiques. Also, the Dedham Historical Society, which owns the rights to the original Dedham Pottery trademark, has reissued a limited-edition lion plate with a new variation in the original mark to permanently distinguish it from the originals. 

Rare Green & Blue Sold for $8100.00

Okay, today is Rookwood Pottery. 

No not rock wood. The pottery maker is pronounced, Rook- like the castle piece in chess that can only travel in a straight line, and wood-like my boss is going to bang his head on wood if I mispronounce Rookwood again. 

Rookwood Limoges 1882 -MLN

The Rookwood Pottery Company was founded by society lady, Maria (pronounced Mar-eye-a) Longwood Nichols in November of 1880 in an old school in Cincinnati Ohio. Maria’s technique of painting decorations under the glaze or if you want to impress your friends the official term for her technique was “under glaze slip decoration”. This technique was invented in Limoges France and is pretty simple, the potter mixing clay with water and adding oxides (color pigments used in glaze) then use as paint on unfired pottery. The challenge is finding talented artists and potters who can combine their individual expertise and produce high quality finished pieces.  

Maria and her staff of artisans successfully produced a fine art pottery that was one of only a hand full of pottery brands that was put in the same class as French Limoges.  In fact the first years of production people referred to Rookwood pottery as Cincinnati Faience (Faience is just a fancy word for glazed earthenware) or more commonly as Cincinnati Limoges.

Limoges Tea Cup-Jean Pouyat 1890

Do you know what French Limoges is? (Pronounces Li-mo-oj) Hand painted china made in Limoges France. I am sure that your mom or grandma had Limoges in her china cabinet and you were never allowed to touch it?

After the great success of the traditional Limoges technique the Rookwood pottery company decided to invent new techniques that could help them stand out from the competition. They invented their now famous pottery lines; Standard, Tiger Eye, Mahogany, and Gold Stone. The addition of these new lines defined them as a top brand of Art Pottery in the US. Then they put their new pieces in direct completion with the best pottery in the world at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Did they win? OUI BIEN!  Rookwood earns a gold medal and becomes an international force in the Art Pottery world.

Rookwood expended from their old school house to a larger facility and continued to introduce more line and new glazes. They continued to make each piece by hand with high quality decorations keeping with Maria’s vision of having each piece be a unique high quality work of art. The company was very successful until the great depression and in 1941 even filed for Bankruptcy. Each piece made after 1886 is marked with a multi-flamed RP stamp and roman numerals to give the date and the initials of the artist who painted it. The company did get sold a few times and officially closed in 1967. By the time they closed their doors there was Rookwood pottery in museums and important art collections all over the world.

The doors stayed closed for almost 40 years until 2004 when thanks to a passionate conservator a new Rookwood pottery company would reopen again. Check them out. https://www.rookwood.com/

If you want to know more about the actual pottery lines I am breaking it down tomorrow.    

After researching and reading all about Rookwood I still have one burning question. Do you?

Why was it called Rookwood Pottery and not Longwood or Nichols Pottery? Guess the answer in a 

comment and the winner will get a big shout out!

Dixie Terminal Building in Cincinnati OH,
Rookwood pottery facade 121  

Groovy Grueby

Arts and Crafts Pottery Lydia oh Lydia Style:

The sum up: The term “Arts & Crafts” refers to the addition of decorative arts like furniture and pottery being recognized as fine art alongside traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. For the first time ever as early as the mid 1800’s people are starting to appreciate daring crafts people who are creating experimenting pieces of furniture and pottery. I am talking seriously crazy stuff completely opposite of the popular styles of the time. I will tell you more about that in a later post today this week is all about art pottery. 

Hello friends, this week I am learning about art pottery for our upcoming auction. I need to figure out the differences between a $10,000.00 Grueby piece versus a $300 Weller piece. Today I am going to focus on Grueby.

William Henry Grueby (1867-1925)

Now pay attention this is a potter’s novella. To tell the story of Grueby we have to start our story in 1872 when lil’ William was 5-years-old, we’ll get back to him in a little while. Right now we’re learning about the Robertson family; Dad: James and sons: Hugh, Alexander, and George who were a family of potters from Chelsea Massachusetts, they formed Chelsea Keramic Art Works. Eventually Hugh started make an experimental pottery glazes trying to achieve a dark blood red color. By 1884 his dad passed away and his brothers left.

George Robinson started working for John Gardener Low and his father John Low at the J. & J.G. Low Art Tile Works. George brought the formulas for all his brother Hugh’s experimental glazes. Nice back stabbing brother. Worse the tile works was also in Chelsea. However Karma is a witch and now we meet up again with Henry Grueby who was hired to work at the J. & J.G Low Art Tile Works in 1880 at the tender age of 13. At the age of 23 Grueby has learned the glaze formulas from George Robinson and enough about making art pottery vessels that he leaves to start his own firm in 1890.

His first firm merges with another firm and doesn’t work out yadda yadda yadda. In 1894 he starts what is to become the famous Grueby Faience Company. (Geek alert “Faience” is defined as  the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body )This new company was the perfect combination for success, with Hugh Roberson’s glazes, stolen by brother George, and again  by Grueby, on tiles and then on pottery vessels designed by George Pentiss Kendrick (a noted architect and potter), under Grueby’s direction and backed by wealthy business partners, The Grueby Faience Company would prove to be the most important Art’s and Craft pottery in American history.

Grueby continued to experiment with Robinson’s glaze formulas and made beautiful brown, yellow, blue, and of course green. Grueby pottery is most known for their beautiful matte green glazes. You know that green. Go to any gardening store and they will have pots, urns, and planters in that dark green color that was made famous by Grueby. Worst part is that back in his day the Greuby green was all the rage but hardly anyone of modest means could afford his pottery. Many companies started mass producing their own versions of his designs. Yes they were crappy mass produced molded pieces, but people could afford them. Sadly his great success ultimately caused the Grueby Faience Company’s financial demise and in closed in 1909.

But WHY? You cry. I know simple green urns. Go figure.

Because they are important and special. I’ll tell you why.

All Grueby pottery was made by hand and only in harmony with itself. This means that the clay should be used in their most natural intended shape, not in the fussy ornate ways in fashion of the time. Look at the popular leaf designs. Do you see how each leaf was made by hand and applied on? Each flower and each line is made by hand with the purpose of creating harmony and natural beauty.

Also the mixing of glazes and subtle decorations should only enhance the natural shape of the pot. That’s why the shapes at first look may seem kind of plain.

Look closely.

Do you see the matte green glaze? 

Look closer. See how the glaze is thicker in places?

See how the differing amounts of glaze forms an organic texture on the piece?  

See the variation of color in each piece?  

See the under glaze peaking out in spots?

Some pieces have crackled glaze, some have a sort of alligator skin? 

These are all meant to harmonize with the form and decoration to create a natural synchronicity between the pottery and the pottery.  Almost like the potter becomes one with the clay and is solely there to aid the clay in taking its ideal shape. The same idea with the glazing they would put on the glaze and let it naturally melt down the piece. Because who is man to dictate to nature?

I think it’s cool. Since the pots were all made by hand and the different mixing and glaze applying techniques were always yielding different effects on each piece that makes each Grueby pot is its own unique piece of fine art.

That’s why Tiffany Studios ask Greuby to make the bases for their early lamps, until they hired away one of his potters. The novella continues.