Van Briggle Pottery
Established in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1901 by Artus and Anne Van Briggle, the Van Briggle Art Pottery is the oldest continuously operating art pottery in America. It's founder had a significant impact on the Art Noveau movement worldwide, and his pottery is foundational to American Art Pottery.
History
Early Artistic Career & Studies
Born to artistic parents on March 21, 1869, Artus Van Briggle had an early introduction to painting, and plied his fledgling craft on many materials found about the home. The Van Briggle family lived in Ohio, one of America's hotbeds of ceramic design. At the age of 17 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he decorated china dolls at the Arnold Fairyland Doll Store, while attending his early art studies at the Cincinnati Art School. After a stint at the Avon Pottery where he was introduced to the ceramic arts, Artus took a job at Rookwood; there he excelled at hand-painting designs. His skill and talent were recognized by Rookwood founder, Maria Storer, who became his benefactor, even sending him to France to study art at the Julian School in Paris.
In Europe he was exposed to many styles of art, and became infatuated with an early matte glaze from the Chinese Ming Dynasty; a type of glaze which was lost to history. Artus also met his future wife, Anne Lawrence Gregory, an accomplished artist in her own right. Finishing their Paris studies in 1896, they returned to America. Artus resumed his work at Rookwood, but also started sculpting and experimented with recreating the lost Ming Dynasty glazes.
Perfecting the Distinctive Dull or Matte Glaze
In 1899, struggling with health issues due to Tuberculosis, Artus left Rookwood and moved to the drier air of Colorado Springs, Colorado. This let him pursue his own styles of pottery, centered around the Art Nouveau movement, and to continue his research on the matte glazes. After two years of trials and experimentation the now-famous Van Briggle matte glaze was perfected. Artus opened his first pottery in 1901 and was joined by Anne Gregory who took a position as a high school art teacher in Colorado Springs.
In 1902, Anne and Artus were married, and she devoted herself to the pottery; she created many designs and collaborated in all aspects of the enterprise with her husband. Late 1902 brought Van Briggle awards for his glazes and designs from the prestigeous Paris Salon; now he was accepted by the world as an accomplished artist. A display at the 1904 Centennial Exhibit in St. Louis won Van Briggle more awards and greater international fame.
Van Briggle Pottery Loses It's Founder
Artus Van Briggle passed away in July, 1904, at the age of 35. Anne continued the pottery using the forms created by Artus as a foundation, but adding many more designs of her own. In 1907, Anne and pottery stockholder and city-founder William J. Palmer began construction on a new pottery on Uintah Street. The Van Briggle Memorial Pottery - designed by Dutch architect Nicholas Van den Arend - was opened in 1908, and stands today as an historic landmark noted for it's strikingly beautiful architecture and use of ceramics in the facade.
Having remarried in 1908, Anne leased the pottery in 1910 to Edwin DeForest Curtis and moved to Denver, where she would concentrate on painting, and where she remained until her death in 1929. In her absence, the pottery fell under financial hardships, and was sold at sheriff's auction; later it was re-sold, once more becoming the property of Mr. Curtis.
Surviving Disaster and War
The pottery was sold twice more in the ensuing decade and survived a fire in 1919 which gutted the interior but left the brick shell and kilns. New owners I.F. and J.H. Lewis took the oportunity to modernize and expand the facility beginning in 1920, and stablized the production and financial aspects of the pottery for the first time. Despite a flood in 1935 which destroyed much of the company's records and many moulds, the pottery continued to enjoy success up to WWII, when they closed for approximately 3 years as America focused it's resources on defeating fascism.
In 1953, as America took to the road in an unprecedented explosion of travel fever, a freeway was planned for Colorado Springs which J. H. Lewis estimated would run through the Memorial Plant site. Although the freeway eventually was planned to avoid destroying the historic pottery, Mr. Lewis nontheless put into action plans to relocate the pottery to a higher-traffic area of Colorado Springs. In 1955, Mr. Lewis and his Master Potter, Clem Hull, brought a new facility on line at a renovated railroad roundhouse on Midland Road. The new facility, known as the Midland Plant, actually had a smaller capacity, but enjoyed instant success due to it's location on the main highway to the Garden of the Gods and other tourist locations.
In 1968, Mr. Lewis sold the Memorial Plant to Colorado College, and it fell into disrepair for the ensuing 40 years, being used variously as offices and storage.
A New Era
American tastes in the 1950's turned to modern designs and all things glossy, so Van Briggle embarked on a new era which saw the pottery continue to produce the traditional matte glazes and Art Nouveau designs, but which also saw the introduction of more trendy gloss glazes and modern designs. Longtime employee Kenneth Stevenson took majority control of the company in 1969, and the pottery continued to produce two distinct lines of pottery and enjoyed a period of expansion and relative stability under Master Potter Fred Wills.
Mr. Stevenson passed away in 1990, leaving the pottery to his daughter Bertha Stevenson and her son Craig Stevenson; they have re-dedicated the pottery to its Art Nouveau roots and the ideals which originally made the Van Briggle name famous.
Notable Van Briggle Artists
Throughout it's history, Van Briggle Pottery has attracted some of the most talented artisans, and since at least the 1930's, has featured tours and live displays of potters "throwing on the wheel."
Among the noted masters of the ceramic arts, Van Briggle has been home, over the years, to Ambrose Schlegel, Harry Bangs, Nellie Walker, William Higman, Clem Hull, Gene Hopkins, Fred Wills, Nelson Curtis, Joe Jezek, Craig Stevenson, Mark Sucharski, Becky Hansen, and scores of others who played roles ranging from minor to major in the success of the company.
Sources
Van Briggle Pottery
The Collector's Encyclopedia of Van Briggle by Richard Sasicki & Josie Fania
The Story Behind The Clay by David & Sharon Swint
The Clement Marot Hull Memorial Association
Master Potter Fred Wills
Master Potter Mark Sucharski
The Colorado Springs Gazette
The Collector's Guide to Van Briggle Pottery by Scott Nelson and Lois Crouch
The Van Briggle Story by Dorothy McGraw Bogue