In 1894 the company was founded in
Revere, Massachusetts, by William Henry Grueby (Boston, 1867—New York, 1925) and the architect-designer
William Graves. Grueby had been inspired by the matte glazes on French pottery and the refined simplicity of Japanese ceramics he had seen at the
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. During its first years, the company produced glazed architectural terra cotta and
faience tiles. The company initially focused on simple
art pottery vases designed by George Prentiss Kendrick. Beginning in 1897 and 1898, Grueby introduced matte glazes, including the matte cucumber green that became the company's hallmark. Grueby's work won two gold medals and one silver medal at the 1900
Exposition Universelle in Paris; medals at the 1901
Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York; and a gold medal at both the 1901 St. Petersburg Exhibition of Ceramics and the 1904
Louisiana Purchase Exposition in
St. Louis. The company stood in the mainstream of Arts and Crafts and
Art Nouveau design in the United States. Graves and Kendrick were eventually replaced by the architect Addison LeBoutillier and Henry Belknap, who had worked with
Louis Comfort Tiffany. Later Karl Langenbeck, formerly of the
Rookwood Pottery, would oversee design. Soon Grueby vases were for sale at
Samuel Bing's shop in Paris, L'Art Nouveau, which gave a name to the progressive art movement, and through
Tiffany & Co. in New York, where
Tiffany Studios used Grueby lamp bases.
Gustav Stickley incorporated Grueby tiles in his stands and tables, shared a stand with Grueby at the
Pan-American Exposition, and through his catalog offered Grueby vases and lamps. In addition to art pottery, the company also produced glazed architectural tiles from molds. Their polychrome glazed tiles can still be seen in the revetments of
Interborough Rapid Transit Company subway stations in New York and thirty-six original tile murals in the main lobby of
Scranton's
Lackawanna Train Station. Grueby's work incited mass-market competition and the company went bankrupt in 1909. Grueby emerged from bankruptcy and began limited production runs that included statues, pottery, and tiles until 1911. There was a fire in the manufactory in 1913, but Grueby rebuilt. In 1917, the C. Pardee Works in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, bought out the company's assets, closing the Grueby company for good in 1920. ==Legacy==