Pitcher, Pauline Pottery, Edgerton, 1888-1894 or 1902-1909.
Object name
Pitcher
Alternate object name
Ewer
Maker
Pauline Pottery, 1883-1909
Date
1888-1909
Dimensions
7 ½"H x 3 ½" diam.
Materials and techniques
Molded earthenware with hand-painted and airbrushed underglaze
Marks
Underglazed Pauline Pottery crown, 8
Original location
Edgerton, Rock County, Wisconsin
Current location
Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin
Description
Molded earthenware pitcher with long curving spout, narrow neck and round body. Broken handle. Hand-painted with flowers and curved shapes in blue, green and red underglaze, outlined in black. Airbrushed with green underglaze ground. Shape #8.
History
The Pauline Pottery was a commercial art pottery works established by Pauline Jacobus in Chicago in 1883. In 1888, Jacobus and her husband Oscar relocated the company to Edgerton, Wisconsin in order to gain access to the high-quality cream-colored earthenware clay beds found in the area. In Edgerton, Oscar managed the production of porous earthenware cups for electric batteries (the pottery's primary income generator) while Pauline worked with a staff of women decorators to create ornamental wares decorated with hand-painted underglaze. Faced with financial difficulties after the death of Oscar Jacobus, the pottery was forced to close in 1894. In 1902, Pauline Jacobus reopened the Pauline Pottery on a smaller scale, operating the company from her own home until her retirement in 1909.
Sources
Maurice Montgomery, Edgerton's History in Clay: Pauline Pottery to Pickard China (2001); Ori-Anne Pagel, Pauline Pottery: A Pictorial Supplement to 'Edgerton's History in Clay' (Edgerton, Wisconsin: Arts Council of Edgerton, 2003); Emily Pfotenhauer, "Art Pottery in Edgerton: History and Resources" Wisconsin Object (accessed March 5, 2008): http://wisconsinobject.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/art-pottery-in-edgerton-history-and-resources
