American art pottery

the Robert A. Ellison Jr. collection

de Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Martin Eidelberg, Adrienne Spinozzi

The fascinating story of the American art pottery movement told through hundreds of distinctive works. During the height of the Arts and Crafts era in Europe and the United States, from the late 1800s until World War I, American ceramics were transformed from industrially produced ornamental and table wares to aesthetically and technologically innovative art pottery. This fascinating history is exemplified by the outstanding works in the collection of Robert A. Ellison Jr., who over half a century assembled one of the most important and comprehensive selections of American art pottery. More than 300 of the finest examples of works made by both well-known and less familiar ceramists, including George E. Ohr, Hugh Robertson, Charles Volkmar, Mary Louise McLaughlin, Matt Morgan, Maria Longworth Nichols, and Frederick Hurten Rhead, are beautifully reproduced, along with numerous period advertisements and photographs, imparting a full understanding of the movement's personalities and achievements.