American Art Pottery
A Creative Legacy
This city was recognized as the pottery capital of the world over a century ago and the city’s creative prominence was nurtured by newspaper articles like this excerpt from a 1905 piece, in which the reporter wrote that the...
“artistic merit and refinement of taste in design long ago caused art connoisseurs to look to Zanesville for the pottery that has, through the ingenuity of our prominent citizens, taken the lead in useful and ornamental art.”
Why Zanesville, Ohio? This region had abundant natural resources important to the manufacture and production of pottery including rich deposits of clay and silica—a key ingredient in clays and glazes. As a result, as early as 1820, a robust potting tradition existed, which provided the foundation for larger manufacturing ventures to thrive by 1890. Other factors contributed to the development of the local ceramic industry as well, such as easy access to water and rail transportation that delivered wares to distant and developing markets; the availability of wood, coal, and gas to fuel the large kilns needed to produce wares in volume; and a pool of talented engineers capable of creating innovative machinery for the potteries. Another significant contributing factor in the success of the potteries was that many of the major manufacturers were led by dynamic entrepreneurs who attracted experienced decorators, designers, mold-makers, and potters to their companies. Figures like Samuel Weller of Weller Pottery Company, J. B. Owens of Owens Pottery, J.F. Weaver and then George Young of Roseville Pottery, and Nelson McCoy of Nelson McCoy Sanitary and Stoneware Company transformed local pottery companies into nationally recognized concerns.
The Market for Zanesville Art Pottery
The story of Zanesville’s art pottery industry owes a great deal to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, which ignited an interest among middle-class Americans for hand-crafted ceramics. Visitors to the exposition marveled at pavilions exhibiting Japanese porcelain, European ceramics, and, at the Women’s Pavilion, delicate examples of American china painting.
Also, during this era, American artists were influenced by the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Anxious about rapid industrialization, artisans recognized the importance of handcrafted work and advocated for its integration in daily life. Publications offering home decorating advice inspired a growing number of American consumers to collect artistic furniture, glass, and pottery, which Zanesville ceramic manufacturers like Weller, Roseville, and Owens Pottery Companies were prepared and eager to provide. One of the chief differences between the American and English Arts and Crafts Movements is that American art pottery production became mechanized to meet the growing consumer demand for decorative wares. And competition among the companies for the consumer was fierce.
Popular glazes created by one company were recreated by other companies. For example, the deep brown, high-gloss glaze featuring hand-painted motifs is common. Weller’s 1894 Lonhuda line was followed in 1896 by Owens’ Utopian line, and in 1900 by Roseville’s Rozane line. The intense competition among these companies inspired further glaze and design innovations as well. By 1900, Zanesville producers adopted cost-efficient mass production methods enabling them to reduce the price of the wares, which in turn made acquiring art pottery within the means of ordinary people. Through the 1950s, Zanesville’s potteries created over four-hundred lines of art pottery that are collected and admired to this day.