The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-31

Among the much admired exhibits at
the arts and crafts exhibition were the
large collection of lockwood that grew out
Of little studio workshop of Cincinnati
women, and Van Briggle pottery, an art
work produced IN a new establishment
at Colorado Springs. The interest aroused
in pottery will note with appreciation q
new and successful New York venture,
whose history follows:
A new and beautiful American pottery
which has recently made its appearance,
not in quantities, but a few pieces at a
time, in flower stores and other windows,
is the achievement of woman, and the
history Of its evolution is interesting. The
ist-potter began by amateur dabbling
in china painting, and from that went on
to more ambitious and more broadly ex-
ecuted experiments in underglaze. The
successes. but more particularly the fail
tres of her tiles and vases, stimulated her
interest in porcelains. and from painting
she began to try working in clays, which
she baked In common china Kiln.
Fortunately there was no lack Of money
to Interfere with her experiments, and
her enthusiasm grew with every batch
of queer. crooked and often shattered YES
sells that came out Of the firing. She be-
came known to her friends as a woman
with fad. The fad finally led her to
invest In a potter's wheel and various
machinery including a large kiln, which
East Side. Here she worked until her
tenement-house neighbors complained OF
the dense black smoke which poured out
Of her chimney into their windows, and
she was obliged to move into less crowded
quarters.
Even after having gone so far, It did
not occur to the eXperimenter to establish
commercial enterprise She would have
preferred to keep her potteres studio
art. But there are difficulties In the way
Of making pottery on small scale. 1t is
not possible to buy colors in small guam
titles. When new formulas were pre-
sented to manufacturers they offered to
make them up by the ton, but declined
to bother with flVe-pOund lots.
1t Is not easy to command the services
Of good potter unless the position Is a
permanent one, and although the artist
learned every detail Of her work, from
breaking the rough clay in the mixing
tub to throwing 1t on the wheel, she pre-
- ferred to occupy her time with her ex-
sPeriments, leaving the manual labor to
other hands.
limit of her capacity without every facility
which machinery and skilled labor could
give. she took small building in New
Jersey a most unattractive pile Of sheds,
and put In a full plant. Here she contin-
ued her curious fad
Seven years after her first crude at
tempts were made, after trying many
= combinations Of clay and chemicals, she
succeeded in producing a pottery which Is
attracting the attention Of art lovers. 1t
is g. true majolica, the colors good greens.
blues, yellows, creams and browns, in
simple but very individual shapes
The art Of making pottery Is one Of the
Oldest in the world, and the fascination of
It lies in the fact that the combinations
Of clays and colors are. practically without
limit. It is teasing, eVaSive art. full Of
disappointments and full Of delightful sur
prlses. Pottery depends on the chemical
changes which, take place when the clay
Is heated. 1t is not possible to foretell
what those changes will be, and even after
q successful biscuit is produced, the prob