Art Nouveau Van Briggle Blue Matte Swirl Vase - Early Period Rare

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Description

Here is a very rare and early period example of Van Briggle Pottery that was produced in the 1910 to … Read more Here is a very rare and early period example of Van Briggle Pottery that was produced in the 1910 to 1915 period. There are a couple of minor flecks on the bottom. Piece is in pristine condition with no chips, cracks, damage or repair of any kind. I am calling this the Swirl pattern and could only find the identical piece at the National Museum of American History.
Dimensions
Height: 7.5"

Artus Van Briggle was born in Ohio and began his artistic training in 1886 at the short-lived Avon Pottery in Cincinnati. A year later, he joined the Rookwood Pottery, which rapidly recognized his talent. The company sent him to Europe to study pottery, where he was inspired by the Art Nouveau style and by Chinese and Japanese ceramics, especially the “dead” matte glaze. His experiments with matte glaze won attention at the Rookwood exhibit at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Because of persistent childhood tuberculosis, Van Briggle moved to Colorado Springs in 1899. By 1901, he had built his own pottery, with the help of Maria Longworth Nichols Storer of Rookwood. In 1902, he married Anne Gregory, a fellow American artist he had met in Paris. Van Briggle Pottery expanded, and fourteen people were employed. Van Briggle’s work is distinctive in combining sculpture and ceramics, with human forms flowing into a vessel’s shape. Plant and animal motifs also appear, often with an Art Nouveau flowing line. Production was often molded but limited in number, and objects were carefully retouched or painted by hand. Artus Van Briggle died in 1904 at the age of 35, and his wife continued the firm. Its work earned regular art pottery awards. By 1910, the company expanded into tiles, mantels, and other commercial wares, and in 1920 art pottery was discontinued in favor of mass-produced ware. It continued production into the 21st century. See less