Oh, my goodness! These are exceptional examples of Rookwood and J.B Owens Arts and Craft pottery. These two beautiful vases have been together for a long time, so we are selling them as a pair. The first one is Rookwood Pottery by Olga Geneva Reed. It is signed, marked and dated 1894 in a petite cone shape with clover hand painted on a green and gold base. The second one is signed and hard to read but through research we have determined it to be J.B. Owens Pottery from circa 1905. It is petite but with big presence in a square tapered shape with an orange, gold, and green floral on a brown and gold ground. We believe this to be part of the Utopian Line. Both vases are in fabulous condition and will be a lovely addition to your collection or fabulous displayed on a shelf or in a table-scape.
Rookwood Pottery was founded in 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols and has the unique distinction of being the first manufacturing company in the United States founded by a female. It is also known for having many women artists on staff over its long lifespan. The name Rookwood was Maria’s brainchild after noticing the rooks, or crows, populating her father’s estate and combining that with “wood” for a nod to the fame Wedgwood wares. Maria ran the company for three years. Then in 1883, after she attained much success in earning medals for the company’s work, she turned over the management of and transferred her interest in the company to William W. Taylor. Under Taylors command the business went from a young award-winning pottery company to a thriving entity. It was a very successful operation over the following decades. But in 1941, after the Great Depression took its toll, Taylor closed-up shop. Until a brief few years later a group of investors bought the company and began production once again. The new Rookwood changed hands many times and even moved to a different state but could still never be the pottery it once was. They subsequently closed their doors for good in 1967.
O.G.R. or Olga Geneva Reed decorated pottery for Rookwood from 1890 through 1909 according to Rookwood and the American Indian: Masterpieces of American Art Pottery by Anita J. Ellis and Susan Labry Meyn.
Owens Pottery was founded by J. B. Owens in Roseville, Ohio in 1885 but moved to Zanesville in 1891. They began producing art pottery in 1896 with the introduction of the Utopian line. Over the years they made close to 48 different lines of award-winning art pottery and tile and were compared to the work of other potteries such as Rookwood, Roseville, and Weller, all who were based in Ohio. Through trials and tribulations Owens Pottery remained in business till sometime in 1929.
Whether you are a collector of Arts and Crafts pottery or Rookwood or J. B. Owens in particular…or you just love beautiful things….you need to make this pair yours.
