Beginnings Maria Longworth Nichols Storer, daughter of wealthy Joseph Longworth, founded Rookwood
Pottery in 1880 after being inspired by what she saw at the
Centennial Exhibition in
Philadelphia, including
Japanese and French ceramics. The first Rookwood Pottery was located in a renovated school house on Eastern Avenue which had been purchased by Maria's father at a
sheriff's sale in March 1880. Storer named it Rookwood, after her father's country estate near the city in
Walnut Hills. The first ware came from the
kiln on
Thanksgiving Day of that year. Through years of experimentation with
glazes and kiln temperatures, Rookwood pottery became a popular
American art pottery, designed to be decorative as well as useful.
Clara Chipman Newton was the archivist and general assistant, as well as a china decorator, for the first decade of the pottery; she shared with Storer the responsibility for overseeing the decoration and glazing. The artist
Laura Anne Fry worked at Rookwood as a painter and teacher from 1881 to 1888. The second Rookwood Pottery building, on top of
Mount Adams, was built in 1891–1892 by
H. Neill Wilson, who was son of prominent Cincinnati architect
James Keys Wilson. One of the early decorators was E. T. Hurley who joined Rookwood in 1896 and worked there for over 50 years. He was a student of
Frank Duveneck at the Cincinnati Art Academy. Hurley specialized in painting landscapes and nature scenes winning a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair for his work in ceramics.
Wares The earliest work from the pottery is
relief-worked on colored clay, in red, pinks, greys and sage greens. Some were gilt, or had stamped patterns, and some were carved. Often these were painted or otherwise decorated by the purchaser of the "greenware" (unfinished piece), a precursor to today's do-it-yourself movement. However, such personally decorated pieces are not usually considered Rookwood for purposes of sale or valuation. After this period, Storer sought a "standard" look for Rookwood and developed the "Standard Glaze", a yellow-tinted, high-gloss clear glaze often used over leaf or flower motifs. A series of portraits — often of generic
American Indian characters or historical figures — were produced using the Standard Glaze. A variant on the Standard Glaze was the less-common but very collectible "tiger eye" which appears only on a red clay base. Tiger Eye produces a golden shimmer deep within the glaze; however, the results of this glaze were unpredictable. Rookwood also produced pottery in the
Japonism trend, after Storer invited Japanese artist
Kitaro Shirayamadani to come to Cincinnati in 1887 to work for the company.
Davis Collamore & Co., a high-end
New York City importer of porcelain and glass, were Rookwood's representatives at the
Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889. In 1894, Rookwood introduced three glazes: "Iris" a clear, colorless glaze, "Sea Green" which was clear but green-tinted, and "Aerial Blue" which was clear but blue-tinted. The latter glaze was produced for just one year, while the two former glazes were used for more than a decade. With increased interest in the
American Arts & Crafts Movement, a matte glaze was needed which could be used over under-glaze decoration (largely floral and scenic). Rookwood introduced a "Vellum" glaze in 1904, which presented a matte surface through which the slightly frosted-appearing decoration beneath could be seen. Rookwood artist
Sara Sax, experimented in working with translucent vellum glaze and relief carving. One of the last glaze lines of Rookwood was "Ombroso", not used until after 1910. Ombroso, used on cut or incised pottery, is a brown or black matte glaze. In 1902, Rookwood began producing architectural pottery. Under the direction of William Watts Taylor, this division rapidly gained national and international acclaim. Many flat pieces were used around fireplaces in homes in Cincinnati and surrounding areas, while custom installations found their places in grand homes, hotels, and public spaces. Original Rookwood-installed tiles can be viewed in
Carew Tower,
Union Terminal and
Dixie Terminal in Cincinnati, as well as the Rathskeller Room at the
Seelbach Hilton in
Louisville, Kentucky and the
West Baden Springs Hotel in southern Indiana. In New York City, the
Vanderbilt Hotel,
Grand Central Station,
Lord & Taylor, and several subway stops feature Rookwood tiles. "One of the most important Rookwood tile installations in the country" is on display at the Carnegie West Branch of
Cleveland Public Library and depicts
Durham Cathedral in England. The 1920s were highly prosperous years for Rookwood. The pottery employed about 200 workers, including sculptor
Louise Abel and future sculptor
Erwin Frey, and received almost 5,000 visitors to the Mount Adams business each year. File:-129 Jar, 1882 (CH 18802865).jpg|Vase with bat and spiders, 1882 File:Abby hyde allen per rookwood pottery co., caraffa, 1883.jpg|Jug by
Abby Hyde Allen for Rookwood, 1883 File:Vase by Albert Robert Valentien, Rookwood Pottery Company, 1893, earthenware with mahogany glaze line - Cincinnati Art Museum - DSC03022.JPG|Vase by
Albert Robert Valentien, 1893, earthenware with mahogany glaze line File:Vase (USA), 1901 (CH 18802891-2) (cropped).jpg|Vase by Kataro Shirayamadani, 1901 File:Vase (USA), 1902 (CH 18457569) (cropped).jpg|Vase, 1902 File:John d. wareham per rockwood pottery company, mostra di camino, 1903.jpg|Fireplace by John D. Wareham, 1903 File:Shape -2000 Vase, 1912 (CH 18802881) (cropped).jpg|Vase, shape #2000, 1912 File:Angels by Louise Abel sculptor, Rookwood Pottery Company, c. 1920, architectural faience - Cincinnati Art Museum - DSC03115.JPG|Angels by Louise Abel, c. 1920, architectural faience File:Rookwood Installation at Carnegie West.jpg|Panel of Rookwood tiles of
Durham Cathedral File:Rookwood Pottery from the monastery steps.jpg|The original buildings in 2011, seen from
Holy Cross Monastery Decline The company was hit hard by the
Great Depression. Art pottery became a low priority, and architects could no longer afford Rookwood tiles and
mantels. By 1934, Rookwood showed its first loss, and by 1936 the company was operating an average of just one week a month. Several employees, most notably Harold Bopp, William Hentschel and David Seyler left the company and started
Kenton Hills Porcelains in
Erlanger, Kentucky. On April 17, 1941, Rookwood filed for bankruptcy. Through these tough times, ownership of the company changed hands, but the Rookwood artists remained. In 1959, Rookwood was purchased by the Herschede Clock Company, and production moved to
Starkville, Mississippi. Unable to recover from the losses experienced during the
Great Depression, production ceased in 1967. == Revival ==