Cincinnati Art Pottery Pitcher
date: label: date made
content: ca 1879-1891?
name: label: decorator
content: Dean, Jesse
notes: label: Description
content: About the Arts and Crafts Movement:
label: Description
content: Beginning in England in the early 1880s, the Arts and Crafts movement spread across the United States and Europe by the late 1880s. It celebrated the importance of beauty in everyday objects and urged a reconnection to nearby nature. The movement resisted the way industrial mass production undermined artisan crafts and was inspired by the ideas of artisan William Morris and writer John Ruskin. Valuing hand-made objects using traditional materials, it was known for a color palette of earth tones. Its artistic principles replaced realistic, colorful, and three-dimensional designs with more abstract and simplified forms using subdued tones. Stylized plant forms and matte glazes echoed a shift to quiet restraint in household décor. The Arts and Crafts movement also embraced social ideals, including respect for skilled hand labor and concern for the quality of producers’ lives. The movement struggled with the tension between the cost of beautiful crafts and the limited number of households able to afford them. Some potters relied on practical products such as drain tiles to boost income or supported themselves with teaching or publications. Arts and Crafts influence extended to other endeavors, including furniture, such as Stickley’s Mission Style, and architecture, such as the Arts and Crafts bungalow, built widely across the United States. American Arts and Crafts pottery flourished between 1880 and the first World War, though several potteries continued in successful operation into the later 20^th^ century.
label: Description
content: About Cincinnati Art Pottery:
label: Description
content: Cincinnati Art Pottery was established in 1879 and is distinct from the Cincinnati Pottery Company. It specialized in underglaze decorated Cincinnati faience. The firm was best known for Kezonta ware in which ivory vases and bowls were decorated with gold designs and flowers. Portland Blue Faience and Hungarian faience lines were also popular. The firm closed in 1891, but its manager, William Dell, continued to use some of the pottery molds at the William Dell Pottery.
label: Description
content: About the Object:
label: Description
content: Crackle glaze in yellow with gold overglaze decoration of floral patterns.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
topic: label: Subject
content: Art Pottery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Marcus Benjamin Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CE.379598
label: catalog number
content: 379598
label: accession number
content: 150313
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pitcher
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: polychrome (overall surface decoration color name)
label: Physical Description
content: ceramic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: gilt (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 30.1498 cm x 15.24 cm; 11 7/8 in x 6 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 7/8 in x 6 1/4 in; 30.1625 cm x 15.875 cm