The few known incidents in the development of the art may be stated as nearly as possible in chronological order; and, to keep the thread of the narrative unbroken, reference may at the same time be made to the early and unsuccessful attempts at establishing the manufacture of porcelain in conjunction with that of pottery. During the eighteenth century the records open to our inspection, especially the journals of the day, make occasional references to imported wares, chiefly of English manufacture. Mr. Marryat, in treating of English pottery, refers to the popular indifference in England to the advantages of crockery over pewter dishes and wooden trenchers. He then says, “The introduction of stone-ware in the sixteenth century, and of Oriental porcelain in its imitation delft-ware shortly afterward, and, lastly, the Staffordshire earthen-ware, gradually expelled pewter dishes and plates, though it is but recently they have been entirely dismissed.” Popular usage in America followed a parallel course, and there are many places at which the substitution of crockery for wood and metal was made within the memory of persons now living. Mr. J. F. Watson, in his “Annals of Philadelphia,” describing the furniture of a room of presumably about a century ago, gives some interesting particulars in regard to this subject. “One corner,” he says, “was occupied by a beaufet, which was a corner closet with a glass door, in which all the china of the family and the plate were intended to be displayed for ornament as well as use. A conspicuous article in the collection was always a great china punch-bowl, which furnished a frequent and grateful beverage; for wine drinking was then much less in vogue. China teacups and saucers were about half their present size; and china teapots and coffee-pots with silver nozzles were a mark of superior finery. The sham of plated ware was not then known, and all who showed a silver service had the massive metal too. This occurred in the wealthy families, in little coffee and{454} tea pots; and a silver tankard for good sugared toddy was above vulgar entertainment. Where we now use earthen-ware, they then used delft-ware, imported from England; and instead of queen’s-ware (then unknown) pewter plates and porringers, made to shine along a dresser, were universal. Some, and especially the country people, ate their meals from wooden trenchers.” This passage may be taken as affording a faithful view of American usage in regard to the different points upon which it touches, not in Pennsylvania alone, of which Mr. Watson is more particularly treating, but throughout the country. China was still an article of luxury, in which only the rich could indulge. We are, therefore, prepared to find that it was not until the close of the last century, and after the Revolutionary troubles, that crockery assumed any importance as an article of commerce between England and the United States. For a long time prior to that period it is reasonable to suppose that America had been able to satisfy the home demand for all the coarser wares, and also for bricks; but at the close of the eighteenth century the manufacture had made little or no progress. It had not advanced beyond the production of bricks, tiles, and certain kinds of coarse stone-ware and pottery. It is, to say the least, amusing to find Wedgwood, in 1765, expressing fears for England’s earthen-ware trade with America, on account of the establishment of some “new Pottworks in South Carolina.” “They have,” he said, “every material there, equal if not superior to our own, for carrying on that manufacture;” and on these and other grounds he asked if something could not be done to protect the home manufacture!

Miss Meteyard, Wedgwood’s biographer, relates that in 1766 a Mr. Bartlem, a Staffordshire potter, emigrated to South Carolina, and having induced several workmen to join him, began his trade in that State. He failed there, as he had done in England, and a similar fate befell an enterprise which had for its object the establishment of china works in Pennsylvania.

Previous to 1796 both earthen and stone ware were made by Mr. Charles Lathrop at Norwich, Connecticut; and in 1789 Mr. Samuel Dennis made an unsuccessful application for State aid in founding a stone pottery in Connecticut, at which he promised to make ware resembling the Staffordshire queen’s-ware. The industry was also pursued at Hartford by Isaac Hanford, at Stonington by Adam States,{455} and at Norwalk. Shortly afterward, or in the first decade of the present century, ware of an apparently higher class began to be made in the Eastern States, and although large quantities continued to be imported from England, the native wares rapidly improved in quality and increased in quantity.

About the year 1800, Van Wickle’s stone-ware factory was in operation at Old Bridge, now Herbertsville, New Jersey. The clay used was obtained from Morgan’s Bank at South Amboy. Two years later a similar factory, using the same material, was started by the Prices at Roundabout, now Sayreville, on the Raritan. In 1833 J. R. Watson, of Perth Amboy, established a factory of fire-brick, and was working it regularly three years later.

The workshop now carried on by Mr. Richard C. Ramey at Philadelphia is one of the oldest stone-ware factories in America. It turns out a good quality of fire-brick and ware for chemical purposes. A few other Philadelphia firms may here be noticed. Harvey & Adamson make a strong and durable quality of stone-ware, with a hard vitreous glaze (grès cérames), and artistic terra-cotta. Jeffords & Co., of the same city, manufacture an excellent grade of fine stone-ware for household purposes, and table wares. The pieces have usually mouldings in relief, and are colored brown or yellow on the outside and white inside. The latter is apparently produced by making use of an engobe of very white clay. Galloway & Graiff make earthen-ware of various kinds, including terra-cotta in Greek shapes. Moorhead & Wilson have very extensive clay works at Spring Mills, and manufacture terra-cotta for building purposes. They also make terra-cotta vases, after the antique, for decorators.

At Baltimore good qualities of common earthen-ware and salt-glazed stone-ware are made by Perrine & Co.

About 1825 a factory of natural porcelain was founded by a number of Frenchmen in Jersey City. We have a specimen of this porcelain, made in 1826—a small bowl, with excellent body and glaze, and decorated with a gold band round the outside of the rim. The venture did not prove a success, and the production ceased within a year or two. In 1829 the works were assumed by David Henderson & Co., and carried on under the firm of the American Pottery Company. It was here that the throwing and turning of earthen-ware upon the{456} English principle was first performed in America, by William and James Taylor. This was also the first successful attempt to compete with England, and was made in connection with the manufacture of a yellow ware. Three years later, or in 1832, the same potters were making a cream-colored ware chiefly from imported materials. To the decoration of a white ware the English process of printing was successfully brought, and a brown earthen-ware, made about the same date, was variously ornamented with reliefs and colored enamels. Three specimens of the latter are in the Metropolitan Museum. One consists of a water-pitcher modelled by Daniel Greatbatch (Fig. 430), with the handle in shape of a hound, and a hunting scene in relief, and belongs to the earlier period of the factory. About 1845 a change appears to have taken place in the proprietorship, as we then find the company consisting of Messrs. William Rhodes (whom we shall meet again in Trenton), Strong, and M’Gerron. The firm made white granite and cream-colored ware until 1854. At that time the pressure of foreign competition was so great that they could not gain a foothold in the regular trade. Their wares were chiefly sold by peddlers and itinerant dealers, who were in the habit of going to the factory with wagons, when they knew that a kiln was to be drawn, and carting off the goods before they were trimmed. Rhodes resigned in 1854, and went to Vermont; and the remaining partners sold out, in 1855, to Rouse, Turner, Duncan & Henry, of whom Messrs. Rouse & Turner are now carrying on the establishment. The popularity occasionally reached by a single form was, perhaps, never better exemplified than by the brown pitcher above mentioned. It is made down to the present time, and has become so identified with the factory, that, when wishing to send a memento to his{457} friend Mr. John Haslem, of the Derby Works in England, Mr. Rouse thought he could not do better than send him one of these pitchers, of a size larger than ordinary. The present firm have not used any imported clay for the past fifteen years. They now obtain spar from Connecticut, flint from Lantern Hill, Connecticut, China clay from South Carolina, and other clays from New Jersey. The staple of the factory is granite-ware, for which a peculiar ivory-colored glaze has recently been adopted. Parian is also made. The Jersey City biscuit is extensively consumed by decorators, and some new and very handsome shapes have been designed for this special branch of trade (see Fig. 457).

Messrs. Lyman, Fenton & Co. embarked, in 1847, in an enterprise at Bennington, Vermont, which promised to be a commercial success. They made both pottery and artificial porcelain. The enamel upon certain specimens of the former in the Metropolitan Museum, and belonging to the Trumbull-Prime collection, is of a notably good quality. The works stopped, after running for about twelve years.

The oldest establishment in New York is the Hudson River Pottery, in West Twelfth Street. It was founded in 1838, and is now carried on under the firm of William A. Macquoid & Co. The only products, until within a year ago, were stone-ware and glazed earthen-ware. At that time the demand by decorators for terra-cotta in the choicest antique forms led the firm to add it to their list of productions. The experiment was successful. The paste is fine and well worked.

The “Manhattan Pottery” of Stewart & Co., in West Eighteenth Street, New York, is engaged chiefly in the production of drain-pipes and terra-cotta. The former are glazed with “Albany slip,” obtained from the bed of the Hudson at Albany, which{458} renders them perfectly impervious to the action of acids.

Mr. James Carr, of the New York City Pottery, after working for some time with the American Pottery Company, in Jersey City, went, in 1852, to South Amboy, and founded an establishment for making yellow, Rockingham, and cream-colored ware. Twenty-two years ago he removed to his present premises in West Thirteenth Street, New York. Mr. Carr makes use of six or seven different bodies, all composed of American materials. Some time ago he made a few pieces, including a tea-service and two statuettes (Fig. 431) of artificial porcelain, using bone and kaolin from Chester County, Pennsylvania. The table-pieces are decorated with festoons of flowers, in pink and green, and a rim of blue and gold. The statuettes are well modelled and very tastefully colored. The staple product of the factory is stone china, which is largely sought in biscuit by decorators. The quality is probably as fine as it is possible to make stone china, and styles of decoration are followed which are rarely found on a similar body. Dinner-services are decorated with all the care usually reserved for porcelain, and many ornamental pieces, including a series of circular plaques, show admirable taste and workmanship (Fig. 432). A third quality of ware is called “Semi-china,” and is nearly as translucent as porcelain. It is made from American kaolin clay, with a large admixture of felspar. It is decorated in styles{459} similar to those found upon the iron-stone china. Mr. Carr also makes statuettes and busts in terra-cotta, of a warm, rich tint, and in a fine, partially translucent parian. Besides these, the works produce cream-colored ware and majolica. The latter is made into a great variety of forms—jars, pedestals, seats, boxes, and cups, the leading colors of which are a clear deep blue, yellow, and green.

Some of the colors found upon iron-stone china pieces are remarkably good, notably a fine mazarine blue and a brilliant black. Artistic work of all kinds is receiving attention. Mr. Carr has made many experiments, and continues making them with unremitting ardor (Fig. 433). Beginning to work at a time when the mechanical difficulties in the way of success seemed insuperable, he gradually extended his efforts as these difficulties disappeared, and is now reaching toward the higher forms of the art. The story of his life is the history of modern American pottery.

The history of Trenton is interesting from the enormous development of the manufacture in that city within a very short space of time. The business was begun in 1852, by the firm of Taylor & Speeler. Taylor is said to have made the first porous cup at Jersey City, for Professor Morse’s experiments. This honor is also claimed for the Robertsons of Chelsea, Massachusetts. But leaving that question in the mean time, it would appear that the Taylor here spoken of is the same whom we have seen at work as a thrower with the American Pottery Company. The Trenton firm made yellow and Rockingham ware, with which they were successful from the first. They also attempted porcelain and parian; but these wares, though of fine quality, were not received with such favor as to make their production a commercial success. This resulted, in all probability, from the difficulties attending the manufacture. Since their day the business has almost entirely turned toward another class of white goods, the granite-ware in common use, and for a long time no attempts to manufacture porcelain were made except in the way of experiment. This was done by nearly every firm in the business.

Taylor & Speeler were making white granite in 1856, but only to a limited extent, and in connection with yellow-ware and Rockingham. A medal was awarded them for the manufacture of superior pottery. This honor was conferred in 1856, by the Franklin Institute{460} of the State of Pennsylvania. The medal is now in Mr. Taylor’s possession. As a memento of the skill shown in the early days of American pottery it will bear description. It is made of silver, and has on one side the inscription, “Reward of skill and industry to Taylor, Speeler & Bloor, Trenton, New Jersey, for china, granite, and earthen ware, 1856.” On the obverse is a likeness of Benjamin Franklin, and the words “Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, 1824.” To Mr. Taylor, the senior partner of the firm, the credit is due of first firing a kiln with anthracite coal.

The factory is now called the Trenton Pottery Works. Mr. Bloor joined the original firm of Taylor & Speeler in 1854, and retired in 1859. Soon afterward Mr. Speeler sold out to John F. Houdayer, and in 1870 the firm consisted of Mr. Taylor and John Goodwin. A year later Mr. Goodwin was bought out by his son, James H. Goodwin, and Isaac Davis, the latter of whom soon afterward acquired Goodwin’s share, and in 1875 became sole proprietor by purchasing Mr. Taylor’s interest. Mr. Davis, like several others of the older Trenton potters, is an Englishman, and the fact is noteworthy, in view of the opposition to goods of American manufacture. It shows how blind was the prejudice which, there being no question of the excellence of American materials, will not concede to an Englishman in America the skill and ability of the same Englishman in England. Mr. Davis went to Trenton from Staffordshire in 1862, worked first with William Young & Sons, formed a copartnership with George Lawton, upon a capital of $300, joined the Glasgow Pottery Company, and then, as we have seen, bought an interest in the firm of Taylor & Goodwin.

The first to make cream-colored ware for the market were William Young & Sons, Astbury & Millington, who comprised the firm which, in 1853, laid the foundation of an industry which has since attained to enormous dimensions. They had large orders for strawberry bowls from a trucker near Rocky Hill, and these they fired in Taylor & Speeler’s yellow-ware kiln. The business, although greatly increased, has not changed its character, and is at the present time carried on by William Young’s sons.

Of the original partners Astbury formed a copartnership with Mr. Maddock, and the present firm is Astbury & Maddock, of which the{461} latter is the only surviving partner. Its chief product is sanitary and druggists’ ware, and experiments are also made with American kaolins—those of Missouri, Pennsylvania, and other States—with a view to the manufacture of a true American porcelain. Decorating and printing are now receiving a considerable amount of attention. Mr. Millington, also of the old firm, resigned, and founded the pottery now bearing his name.

The first pottery fitted up for the exclusive manufacture of white granite and cream-colored ware was that of Rhodes & Yates, in 1859, at the present City pottery, on Perry Street. This Mr. Rhodes is the same one who was partner in the Jersey City pottery. On going to Vermont, in 1854, he established the manufacture of white-ware, and remained there until the fall of 1859, when he joined Mr. Yates in a new enterprise in Trenton. The previous history of the City pottery is a story of continuous changes. At one time it was occupied by William Young & Sons, who were making porcelain hardware trimmings. In 1853 it was purchased by Mr. Charles Hattersley, and in 1856 passed into the possession of Mr. Yates, who leased it to James and Thomas Lynch. For two years they occupied it as a drain-pipe factory, and in 1859 it was assumed by Mr. Yates, in partnership with Mr. Rhodes. In putting granite and cream-colored ware upon the market, the firm had many obstacles to overcome. Chief among them was the all-prevailing prejudice of dealers and consumers in favor of imported goods. Success, however, came in course of time. An entrance was forced into the market, and other firms which rapidly sprung into existence seconded their efforts in securing for Trenton a remunerative recognition in the white-ware trade. Meantime several changes took place in the firm of Rhodes & Yates. Mr. Higginson became leading partner, and in 1865 the firm was Yates & Titus, which was changed, in 1870, to Yates, Bennett & Allen, and in the fall of 1875 to the City Pottery Company, of which Mr. Yates and Mr. John Rhodes—a son of William Rhodes—are two of the partners. The period of seven years between Taylor & Speeler’s venture and that of Rhodes & Yates may be called the infancy of the Trenton manufacture. Since that time the production has increased year by year, and Trenton well deserves the title conferred upon it of “The Staffordshire of America.” Its annual productive capacity is about{462} two and a half millions, and during 1876 the actual production was about $1,750,000. There are, in all, nineteen potteries in the city, and several decorating establishments. To illustrate what is now being done, and to indicate the new channels which the industry is seeking, a few of the leading factories may be referred to.

The Etruria Pottery Company is now working the factory built, in 1863, by Messrs. William Bloor, Joseph Ott, and Thomas Booth. Mr. Booth retired in 1864, and was succeeded by G. S. Burroughs, who, in 1865, withdrew and made way for J. Hart Brewer. In 1871 Mr. Bloor retired, and the firm of Ott & Brewer remained in possession until January, 1878, when the Etruria Pottery Company was organized. Until 1876 the staple products of the factory were white granite and cream-colored ware. Its ivory porcelain and parian will be noticed hereafter.

The Glasgow Pottery of John Moses & Company sends out an immense quantity of white granite and cream-colored ware, and experiments are also conducted, chiefly with Pennsylvania kaolin, with a view to making porcelain. That now regularly made is called semi-porcelain, and many trial pieces have a pure translucent body and excellent glaze.

The firm of Coxon & Co. was founded, in 1863, by Mr. Charles Coxon, and is now composed of his widow, J. G. Forman, and S. M. Alpaugh. Mr. Coxon began with cream-colored ware, and conjoined it with white granite toward the end of 1863. Since that time the firm has produced both qualities.

One of the later establishments is the Mercer Pottery, built in 1868, of which Mr. James Moses is sole proprietor. Besides the common grades of earthen-ware, stone china and semi-porcelain are made and decorated. There is a decided tendency here toward the production of a finer quality of ware, and of styles of decoration possessed of artistic merit.

At the Arsenal Pottery Mr. Joseph Mayer manufactures Rockingham and brown stone-ware, and is in the possession of a number of excellent designs. Of the remaining Trenton potteries—the East Trenton Pottery Company, the American Crockery Company, Joseph H. Moore’s, the Greenwood Pottery Company, and the Millham—it is unnecessary to give details. Within the past two or three years all{463} have been turning their attention to work of a more or less artistic character, some directing their efforts more particularly to decorating, and others to the perfecting of a body which shall enable them to compete with the manufacturers of porcelain. In the latter respect the Greenwood company has met with gratifying success, and has given their ware the name of “American China.”

It will thus be seen that the history of modern American art and manufacture does not extend much beyond a century. Progress has been rapid, and the trade has developed with gigantic strides.

It is estimated that there are in all seven hundred and seventy-seven pottery establishments in the United States, including those for all kinds of ware, from terra-cotta to porcelain. All, or nearly all, these have sprung up within twenty-five years, and many of them since the Civil War. The productive capacity of some of the leading centres may be judged from the number of kilns they require. At Trenton there are fifty-seven kilns; at East Liverpool, forty-six; at Cincinnati, twelve; at Flushing and Greenpoint, Long Island, eleven; at Pittsburg six; or there are at sixteen seats of the industry, and excluding terra-cotta manufactories, one hundred and seventy kilns. The capital invested by the forty firms, members of the Potters’ Association, is upward of four millions, an amount vastly increased by the remaining seven hundred and thirty odd establishments throughout the country. White granite-ware, an abomination in point of art, but eminently useful, is made at other places in this country besides Trenton in great abundance. The only manufactory of white granite and cream-colored ware in the Eastern States is that of the New England Pottery Company at East Boston. It was established in 1854.

A display was made at the Centennial Exhibition of what was called “Ivory Porcelain,” from the Etruria Pottery of Ott & Brewer, Trenton. It has a hard, semi-translucent body, and clear, smooth boracic glaze. It bears a close resemblance to Mr. Carr’s semi-china, and is substantially the same ware that is now receiving attention from many of the other Trenton potters. It may be said to mark the first stage on the way to a true American porcelain. By exhibiting it at the Centennial Exhibition, Ott & Brewer were really the first to draw the public attention to this new departure in American manufacture.{464} Its distinctive name is taken from its soft, ivory-like tint. The advantages claimed for it are, that while it answers all the purposes of china, its manufacture is less expensive, and permits its being put upon the market at a much lower price; that it equals the average china in point of both utility and appearance; and that its consistency is such that it can be made into more graceful or less clumsy shapes than granite. Experience alone can dispose of these claims. It is fired, like granite-ware, hard in the biscuit and soft in the gloss-kiln, from which it would appear that the glaze and paste are not homogeneous, as in natural porcelain. Practically, however, this new ware represents a great and substantial improvement in the manufacture of a general domestic article. All the component ingredients of both paste and glaze are found in America.

At Ott & Brewer’s, also, are to be discovered the first glimmerings of what may be called an art, in the studio of Mr. Isaac Broome, an American artist of considerable repute and skill. Mr. Broome devoted himself to both painting and sculpture before turning his attention to ceramic art. Some years ago he established a terra-cotta workshop in Pittsburg; but the locality was unfavorable, and the enterprise was abandoned. A similar venture in New York city also failed.

Several months prior to the Centennial Exhibition he was employed by Messrs. Ott & Brewer to design and model certain works in parian. These were exhibited at Philadelphia, and were very favorably received. The improved kiln previously described (see page{465} 79) was built after his plans, and under his personal direction for firing the works turned out of his studio. Of these one of the best was suggested by Mr. J. Hart Brewer, and consists of (Fig. 434) a pair of vases in parian designed to illustrate the national game of base-ball. Great variety of detail is attained without detriment to a certain severity of outline. From a narrow base the body contracts quickly to its smallest girth, and thence expands gradually to the top. Round the foot of each vase, and standing on the supporting pedestal, are arranged three figures of base-ball players, modelled after a thoroughly American ideal of physical beauty, embodying muscular activity rather than ponderous strength. The attitudes are very well chosen, and invest the figures with an appearance of life and vigorous action. A series of clubs belted round with a strap ornaments the stem of the vases, and some exquisitely wrought leaves and berries are woven round the top. The orifice is covered by a cupola or dome, composed of a segment of a base-ball, upon which stands an eagle. These vases are the work of a genuine artist, who has surrounded a general design of great merit with many finely executed and suggestive details.

The same artist’s “rustic,” or “Pastoral,” vases (Fig. 435) illustrate a different order of ideas. Here the surface is covered with mouldings in relief, composing{466} a design partly suggested by mythology, partly original. It carries us back to the golden age of the poets. A female figure, which might be that of Flora or Proserpina, dances to a satyr who plays a musical instrument. The details are all in perfect harmony—the dancing goats, the grape-vines, the leaves, rustic wood-work, and goat’s-head handles. A tasteful finish is given to the decoration by a fluting running round the upper part of the neck to the lip. To produce a good effect, work of this kind, all in relief and uncolored, demands the nicest finish, and a design which shall lean neither toward scantiness on the one hand, nor overloaded ornamentation on the other. In both respects Mr. Broome has been fortunate. The decoration relieves without destroying the fine outline of the vase.

Mr. Broome’s “Fashion” vases (Fig. 437) are embellished with some very fine illustrations of the fashions of a century ago and also of the present time. Of these the shapes are exceedingly quaint and uncommon, and the figures in low relief are very highly finished.

Besides these, Mr. Broome has modelled a great number of the heads and busts which have always been the staple of workers in parian. Some are original, others are reproductions from the antique. To the former class belongs an ideal Cleopatra (Fig. 438). The artist has chosen a full and sensuous type of beauty, vastly different from that adopted by recent painters who have ventured to portray upon canvas the charms which melted the stern Cæsar and enslaved Antony. Somehow one associates the style of beauty represented in Mr. Broome’s bust rather generally with the land of Egypt than specially with the conquests of Cleopatra. This may result from a familiarity with less truthful conceptions, and in that view implies a decided merit. The artist has in details followed history as closely{467} as it seems possible for him to have done, and has wisely preferred study and research to giving his imagination a free rein. Imagination, or an American model, might have led him to present a higher type of beauty, but neither would have led him to produce a distinctively Egyptian Cleopatra. Accepting his ideal, it is worked out with unmistakable talent, and with the most painstaking attention to workmanship.

It is unnecessary to particularize farther. The Etruria Pottery Company have made a good beginning, and in directing the efforts of their artists it is to be hoped that they may not allow the commercial success of copies of the antique to divert attention from such works as those described. The paste employed is fine, compact, and hard, and assumes in some pieces the clear and polished appearance of marble. Its precise composition is not known. The paste is, as in the usual case, poured in a fluid state into plaster moulds, which absorb the superfluous water. Oxides are used to vary the color of the casts, and a number of tints of great delicacy and beauty have been secured.

American terra-cotta must be briefly dismissed. At the Centennial Exhibition an extensive assortment was shown from works situated in many parts of the country. One or two makers displayed an utterly misguided taste in attempting something original. Others appeared to confine themselves to the well-known Apollo Belvederes, Niobes, and other antique subjects. Garden vases and ornaments were meritorious as a class; but whatever artistic work may be produced in some quarters, in others art is only budding, and will take some time before it blooms into flower. Some excellent work in terra-cotta is executed in Philadelphia and New York, and has been referred to above. Of the hundreds of other{468} factories throughout the country few have done anything distinctive. One or two might possibly be mentioned, such as the Halm Art Pottery Company, of Sandy Hill, New York, which are gradually drawing away from the commonplace, and may be expected, sooner or later, to possess an artistic individuality. Among Eastern workshops may be mentioned those of Beverly, Portland, North Cambridge, and Chelsea, Massachusetts. A great deal of the red terra-cotta of Beverly is consumed by decorative artists and students. The Portland terra-cotta is well known both for excellence of body and beauty of shape. The paste is unusually fine and close in texture, and is excellent under the brush. The North Cambridge establishment also turns out ware of a high quality. The designing department is evidently under skilful and competent supervision, and the forms have an antique grace which never loses its charm. As in the case of Beverly, the products of both these workshops are well adapted to the purposes of the decorator.

Chelsea demands a larger share of our attention for styles of work in terra-cotta unique among American products. The establishment is at present carried on by Robertson & Sons, under the name of the “Chelsea Keramic Art Works.” The firm consists of J. Robertson and his two sons, A. W. Robertson and Hugh C. Robertson. The workshop was founded on 1st June, 1868, by A. W. Robertson, for the production of English brown-ware. He was joined by his brother, and the chief wares made at that time were fancy flower-pots. J. Robertson was admitted to the firm by his sons on 1st June, 1872, and affords a good instance of the wide experience it is possible to compress into one lifetime. Mr. Robertson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and first worked in the Fife pottery, at Dysart, where his father was head workman. He there acquired a knowledge of modelling and mould-making, and at the age of sixteen was engaged by the Watsons of Prestonpans, Mid-Lothian, then the leading fine-ware factory in Scotland. He next tried the North of England, and worked as modeller and mould-maker at several factories, gaining experience and proficiency, and ultimately took the management of a small red-ware pottery, where he introduced both white and printed ware, “smeared black” and “lustred” ware. On leaving, he tried manufacturing on his own account for a time, and then accepted the position of superintendent{469} of a black-ware factory at North Shields. He arrived in America in 1853, and worked first in a factory at South River; then with Mr. J. Carr, at South Amboy, and afterward at Thirteenth Street, New York; next with Speeler, Taylor & Bloor, at Trenton; and lastly as manager of the East Boston pottery. His next step was to join his sons at Chelsea, each of whom has had a more or less varied career, and is expert in at least one branch of the business. Since the establishment was opened, a great many experimental pieces have been made of different materials, sizes, and shapes. What are known as porous cones were made some time ago for chemical purposes, and are of so open a body that the breath can be drawn through them with ease. We have already seen that Jersey City claims this discovery. The credit is probably due to both, as they appear to have arrived at the same result by independent courses. Work of a more purely artistic character was tried about eight years ago, but, commercially speaking, without success. A second attempt was made in 1873, and the production has been continued down to the present time. The artists and collectors of Boston soon discovered certain qualities in the Chelsea potters and their works deserving recognition. They may possibly have reached the conviction that Chelsea is to be numbered among the places where artists value their work solely according to its truth, excellence, and beauty. Without affecting to disregard commercial considerations, they succeed in giving their art the precedence. It is not, therefore, a matter of surprise either that they should have convinced a section of the public that Chelsea can do noble service in the cause of American art, or that many excellent works should bear its mark. Allusion may first, however, be made to certain matters with which the Robertsons allow their attention to be diverted from more serious pursuits. They have been inspired by Doulton’s treatment of stone-ware to make certain small pieces of fine earthen-ware of a gray color faintly tinged with blue, and very brilliantly glazed. The decoration consists of incised designs. The pieces do not bear a very close resemblance to Doulton ware, but are in themselves decidedly attractive. The Robertsons, having mastered the fundamental secret of the Haviland process, viz., of applying the colors upon the unbaked clay, have, in the second place, brought out a few pieces after the style of the Limoges faience. Their success here is limited{470} by a palette which must be considerably enriched before the effects of the French ware are reached.

The best Chelsea works are in red and white unglazed earthen-ware. Of these we give two illustrations (Figs. 439 and 440). Some of the forms are original, and others are after the Greek, Italian, and other types. The decoration consists of designs graved in the paste, of mouldings in relief, and of carvings in relief. The application of moulded ornaments to the surface has been practised in all ages, and the Chelsea work does not demand special comment, although many of the designs are attractive and simple. The carving in relief belongs to a different order of work. Instead of being moulded, the ornamentation of leaves or flowers is carved out of clay laid upon the surface of the vase while still moist from the hands of the thrower. The effect is similar to that obtained by mouldings, but the work is finer, the details more highly finished, and the outlines sharper and clearer. Of the designs in these and the pieces decorated with mouldings, the best are those in which leaves either lie across the vase or form a calyx from which it rises upward. The absence of color allows the attention to rest solely upon the fidelity with which every detail is rendered. If this be the quality of work with which the Robertsons tested American taste eight years ago, it is not easy to understand why they did not succeed.{471}

PORCELAIN.

The history of American porcelain is necessarily brief. The impetus toward the higher branches of the art, emanating from Europe, in due time reached these shores. It affected the rapidly developing enterprise of the citizen of the young Republic, and touched his faith in the vast and varied resources of his country. Previous to the achievement of independence, however, and during the early colonial intercourse with England, an incident occasionally transpired not without interest in our narrative. When Mr. Richard Chaffers died in Liverpool, and his porcelain establishment was closed, many of his workmen came to this country. In 1771 it was reported in England that a large china manufactory was established in Philadelphia, where “better china cups and saucers are made than at Bow or Stratford.” It may astonish many who are not acquainted with anything in American ceramics beyond the competitive spirit which rules the business, to find that more than a century ago it had left England behind in the race!

There appears to be no longer any doubt of the existence of a porcelain factory in Philadelphia about the year 1770, and that, therefore, the report alluded to above was “founded on fact.” Advertisements have been discovered which go far toward settling the question. They promise work equal to that of Bow, and are therefore in all probability the basis of the rumor above mentioned, which was current in England a year later. How long the works were carried on is not known.

The next porcelain venture was made in the same city, between 1816 and 1830, by William Ellis Tucker. Tucker began as a decorator, and, after a series of experiments, made first a non-translucent ware of good quality, and then natural porcelain (Figs. 441 and 442).{472}

His works were originally situated behind his father’s china store in Market Street, and afterward at the corner of Market, Schuylkill, and Front streets. One serious impediment to success was a treacherous workman, who did all he could to frustrate his employer’s design. His first experiment was to cut the handles off the pieces when placing them in the kiln. His next was to wash the seggars with felspar, which melted in the kiln and fastened the wares to the bottom of the seggars. When Tucker first made porcelain for the market is not recorded, but in 1827 he was honored with a silver medal by the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania. Some time prior to Tucker’s death, in 1832, Judge Hemphill had been admitted as partner, and subsequently carried on the factory, in connection with Thomas Tucker, a brother of the founder, for a few years. He then sold out. Thomas took the works in hand alone in 1837, and kept them running for about a year, when the production ceased. The products of the factory were chiefly table wares. The paste and glaze were both excellent, but the form and decoration would not permit of competition with imported china. The workshop went down for want of public support, and also on account of the alleged impossibility of securing the services of skilled artists. We have already seen that Lyman & Fenton conjoined the making of artificial porcelain (Fig. 443) with that of pottery at Bennington, Vermont. This factory is chiefly remarkable as the first from which figures in biscuit were turned out. We have also noticed the Jersey City enterprise of Henderson & Co. Several attempts to produce porcelain were made at Greenpoint, Long Island. In 1848, Mr. Charles Cartalege met with some success in the manufacture of knobs and buttons, but in no table ware. Altogether it is probable{473} that about a dozen different establishments were founded for the purpose of inaugurating the manufacture of a native porcelain. They generally succeeded in making a few pieces, and then stopped for lack of patronage. The honor of first establishing the industry upon a successful basis, and of turning out a commercial ware, is to be ascribed to Mr. Thomas C. Smith, of the Union Porcelain Works, Greenpoint.

Mr. Smith is an American, whose ancestors arrived in the Eastern States about one hundred and fifty years ago. He was brought up as a mechanic, and first went into the porcelain manufacture in 1857, under a company composed of a number of Germans who had started the business about three years previously. At this time several small kilns existed in Greenpoint, like that of Cartalege, for the purpose of making door-knobs and other hardware trimmings. The paste then used was compounded upon the principle of the English artificial paste, and contained a large proportion of burned bones or phosphate of lime. This was the composition used by the Germans with whom Mr. Smith connected himself. These Germans, through dishonesty and want of knowledge of the business, soon brought the concern into trouble, from which Mr. Smith tried to extricate it by acting as manager for a time, but the derangement and prostration of trade, caused by the outbreak of the Civil War, compelled the company to wind up its affairs. Mr. Smith, being the largest creditor, became the purchaser, his intention being to bring the porcelain enterprise to an end, and make the property available for some other purpose. Meantime he went abroad. At the time when the second battle of Bull Run was fought he was in France, and it was there the idea grew upon him that there was a good opportunity for establishing the porcelain business in his native country. So complete was the change in the formation of his plans, that he immediately turned his attention to making such inquiries as might subserve his purpose, among the great workshops of France and England. When he returned home, his intention of abandoning the manufacture of porcelain disappeared, and he decided to embark anew. The experiments which followed were attended with much anxiety. Up to November, 1863, the old bone body had been retained; but in 1864 Mr. Smith stopped using it, and directed his attention solely to the production of a natural kaolinic{474} porcelain like that of China or Meissen. His experiments extended over about two years. The first pieces were uneven and the vitrification was incomplete. This arose from an ignorance of the correct composition required for success. Farther trials were more encouraging, and in 1865 he succeeded in making a plain white-ware, which he could place upon the market. Mr. Smith prides himself upon one fact, that, unlike any one of the European establishments, from that of Florence downward, he succeeded without aid either from a wealthy patron or from government.

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Fig. 444.—Century Vase. Greenpoint Porcelain.
Fig. 444.—Century Vase. Greenpoint Porcelain.

In 1866 he first began to decorate, with one English and one German artist. By availing himself of odd fragments of information, he not only improved his decoration, but discovered some European usages, the prevalence of which he had not suspected. One of these{475} was that Dresden ware was sent in large quantities to England to be decorated, and was afterward returned to Dresden and sold as Meissen ware. On one occasion he bought in Europe a Meissen porcelain cup decorated with blue, red, and gold. On returning home, he broke the cup, and put one of the pieces in his porcelain furnace, to see if the colors would stand the heat to which his own were exposed. When it was withdrawn the red had disappeared, a thin, almost imperceptible line was all that was left of the gilt, and the blue had run into streaks and blotches. This little experiment taught him that he was contending with difficulties, in firing his colors, which European makers had not thought it necessary to meet. That he has succeeded is marked by the extension of his works, which cover about an acre of ground, and give employment to about one hundred and seventy people. All his porcelain is decorated by his own artists. Mr. Karl Müller is the chief designer and modeller, and brings a long experience as a sculptor to bear upon his studies in clay. He is a German, whose art education was mainly acquired in Paris under the tuition of the ablest artists of Europe. His predilection for the potter’s art led him to associate himself with Mr. Smith. Before doing so, in 1874, he modelled three terra-cotta figures of base-ball players, in different attitudes suggestive of athletic activity.