Women China Decoratorsmetmuseum.org /toah/hd/woch/hd_woch.htm

Pitcher, ca. 1853–60Decorator: Haughwout & Daily (New York, 1852–54)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration, and gilding; 9 5/8 x 9 1/4 x 6 3/16 in. (24.4. x23.5 x 15.7 cm)Friends of the American Wing, 1996 (1996.560)

Pitcher, ca. 1865Decorator: Boston China Decorating Works (1860–ca. 1925)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration, and gilding; H. 9 5/8 in. (24.4 cm), Diam. 9 1/4in. (23.5 cm)Purchase, Alan E. Salz Gift, 1986 (1986.110)

Pitcher, 1868–86Manufacturer: Greenwood Pottery Company (Trenton, New Jersey, 1861–1933)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration, and gilding; H. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm), Diam. 9 in.(22.9 cm)Friends of the American Wing Fund, 1989 (1989.219)

Fireplace surround , 1878Decorator: Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)Glazed earthenware, overglaze enamel decoration; Overall 36 x 49 ¼ in. (91.4 x 125.1 cm)Bequest of Arthur G. Altschul, 2002 (2003.140)

Plaque, ca. 1878–85Decorator: Rosina Emmet (American, 1854–1948);Manufacturer: Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (1759–present)Earthenware; Diam. 15 1/8 in. (38.4 cm)Purchase, Sansbury-Mills Fund, 1991 (1991.25)

Vase, 1879John Bennett (American, born England, 1840–1907)Painted and glazed earthenware; H. 12 in. (30.5 cm), Diam. 63/8 in. (16.2 cm)Friends of the American Wing Fund, 1985 (1985.168)

Plaque, 1880Decorator: Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855–1942)Porcelain; Diam. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)Friends of the American Wing Fund, 2002 (2002.214)

Vase, 1880Decorator: M. Louise McLaughlin (American, 1847–1939)Painted and glazed earthenware; H. 39 3/4 in. (101 cm),Diam. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)Anonymous Loan (L.1987.11)

Aladdin Vase, 1880–83Decorator: Maria Longworth Nichols (American, 1849–1932);Manufacturer: Rookwood Pottery (1880–1967)Earthenware; H. 30 in. (76.2 cm), Diam. 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm)Gift of Marcia and William Goodman, 1981 (1981.443)

Tyg , 1908Designed and decorated by Leona Nicholson (American,1875–1966); Newcomb Pottery (American, 1894–1940)

1875–1966); Newcomb Pottery (American, 1894–1940)New Orleans, LouisianaPainted and glazed earthenware; H. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. David Lubart Gift, in memory ofKatherine J. Lubart, 1944–1975, 1983 (1983.26)

Soup bowl, ca. 1885–90Decorator: M. Louise McLaughlin (American, 1847–1939)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration, and gilding; H. 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm), Diam. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)Purchase, Friends of the American Wing Fund and Anonymous Gift, 1986 (1986.307.3)

Plate, 1886Decorator: Lizz ie M. Fairchild (American, dates unknown)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration; Diam. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)The Florence I. Balasny-Barnes Collection, Gift of Florence I. Balasny-Barnes, 1991 (1991.370.4)

Vase, 1886–90Made by the Faience Manufacturing Company (1881–1892)New York CityPainted and glazed earthenware with overglaze raised goldpaste decoration; H. 18 1/2 in. (47 cm)Purchase, Dr. and Mrs. Burton P. Fabricand Gift, 1991(1991.58)

Vase, 1888Decorator: Celia Thaxter (American, 1835–1894); Manufacturer: Boston China Decorating Works (1860–ca. 1925)Glazed and painted earthenware; H. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)Purchase, Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation Gift, 1997 (1997.337)

Bowl, ca. 1897Manufacturer: Ceramic Art Company (Trenton, New Jersey, 1889–96)

Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration; H. 3 in. (7.6 cm), Diam. 7 13/16 in. (19.8 cm)Friends of the American Wing Fund, 1987 (1987.26)

Vase, ca. 1905Adelaide Alsop Robineau (American, 1865–1929)Porcelain; H. 6 11/16 in. (17 cm)Gift of Lois Kelley Stout, 2004 (2004.464)

Vase, 1915Sara Galner (American, born Galicia [Ukraine], 1894–1982);Paul Revere Pottery (also known as the "Saturday EveningGirls") (American, 1908–42)Boston, MassachusettsEarthenware; H. 16 in. (40.6 cm), Diam. 9 in. (22.9 cm)Purchase, William Cullen Bryant Fellows Gifts, 2000(2000.31)

Plate, 1908Decorator: Marie B. Bohmann (American, dates unknown); Manufacturer: R. Delinieres and Company (1879–present)Porcelain, overglaze enamel decoration; Diam. 10 in. (25.4 cm)Friends of the American Wing Fund, 1987 (1987.227)

Bowl, 1917Adelaide Alsop Robineau (American, 1865–1929)Porcelain; H. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm), Diam. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923 (23.145)

During the late 1870s, a china-decorating fervor swept the United States that persisted into the early twentieth century.Thousands of women employed paintbrushes and china paints and decorated ceramic objects for their homes, as gifts,and for sale. Their intense interest in china painting inspired Edward Strahan of the Tile Club, whose members includedartists Winslow Homer (2003.140) and William Merritt Chase, to humorously state that this “decorative mania” had caused“the loveliest and purest maidens in the land to smell of turpentine.”

Many factors fueled the widespread interest in china decorating. In an increasingly industrial society, prosperouspost-Civil War Americans enjoyed unprecedented leisure time for artistic and cultural pursuits. Major exhibitions, such asthe 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, introduced Americans to the exotic cultures of the Near and Far East aswell as to the English Reform and Aesthetic movements, which advocated that art be reflected in all aspects of life.Publications offering advice on home decoration inspired acquisitive Americans to fill their homes with artistic furniture,ceramics, glass, and wallpaper. China painting was socially acceptable because it allowed women to create artisticobjects for the home. Organizations such as the Society of Decorative Art in New York City and, later, the Women’sExchange provided venues for women to exhibit and sell their work. In addition, prior to the 1870s, respectableemployment opportunities for working-class women were limited to domestic service and factory or shop work. Artschools such as the Cooper-Union School for the Advancement of Science and Art, in New York City, and thePhiladelphia School of Design for Women offered training in china decorating and pottery painting to prepare women forcareers as artisans or designers.

Originally, European potteries employed professional female and male china painters, as well as children, to decorateporcelain. During the first half of the nineteenth century, most prosperous Americans purchased imported decoratedEuropean porcelain. As the nation became more affluent toward the mid-century, the demand for luxury goods andelaborate tableware increased. Entrepreneurial English and German china decorators immigrated to the United States toestablish businesses decorating imported and domestic plain porcelain blanks for major retail establishments.Professional china decorators and gilders were among the most accomplished artisans involved in porcelainmanufacture. Painting with enamels that mutated in the kiln required artistic talent as well as technical skill. They workedin a variety of styles decorating ornate dinner, tea, coffee, and dessert services, as well as more utilitarian wares suchas bar pitchers, sink basins, and shaving mugs (1996.560; 1986.110; 1989.219). Because professional china decoratorsrarely signed their work, their identities remain largely unknown.

The amateur china painting movement made its first organized appearance in the Midwest. In 1873, in Cincinnati,German immigrant and ceramic chemist Karl Langenbeck taught Maria Longworth Nichols, future founder of theRookwood Pottery, how to paint on china. The following year, Nichols enrolled in the Cincinnati School of Design. Shortlythereafter, Benn Pittman, an art instructor at the Cincinnati School of Design, began conducting china-painting classes forfemale students. M. Louise McLaughlin was among his students. A display of the students’ work in the Women’s Pavilionat the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia had a catalytic effect on the nationwide interest in china painting. Overthe next five years, Nichols and McLaughlin evolved from amateur china painters into extraordinarily successful artistswho designed and decorated their own wares. Serious rivals, they both received widespread critical acclaim andproduced vessels considered among the foremost examples of art pottery in the United States.

McLaughlin authored two important treatises on china painting. In her first book, China Painting: A Practical Manual for theUse of Amateurs in the Decoration of Hard Porcelain (1877), she describes overglaze decoration, in which polychromeenamels are painted on to a glazed porcelain object and affixed by kiln- firing (1986.307.3). In her second book, PotteryDecoration Under the Glaze (1880), she describes her newly discovered underglaze decorating technique. At thePhiladelphia Centennial Exhibition, McLaughlin was especially impressed by the exhibit of Haviland faience(earthenware) from Limoges, France, that was decorated under the glaze with colored slip, or liquid clay. Shesucceeded in re-creating Haviland-style decoration in Cincinnati, though her technique differed. McLaughlin employedher underglaze technique to decorate two monumental vases for the first annual exhibition of the Cincinnati Pottery Club,of which she was the founder, in May 1880 (L.1987.11). Not to be outdone, Maria Longworth Nichols produced hermonumental counterpart the following year (1981.443). As further testament to McLaughlin’s ceaseless experimentation,after a hiatus working in other mediums, in the late 1890s she returned to ceramics and mastered the difficult art ofmaking porcelain in her backyard kiln.

On the East coast, female artists Cecilia Beaux, Rosina Emmet, and Celia Thaxter were among the first to experimentwith china painting during the 1870s. Beaux, one of the preeminent portrait painters in America during the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries, painted nearly lifesize portraits of children on large ceramic plates early in her career(2002.214). Rosina Emmet excelled at portrait painting on china during the 1870s and early 1880s, as demonstrated by aplate depicting a young girl (1991.25). Essayist, poet, and watercolorist Celia Thaxter is best known for her informalartistic salon and celebrated garden at her home on Appledore, one of the islands of the Isles of Shoals off the coast ofNew Hampshire. Thaxter’s china painting frequently combines delicate botanical imagery with painted lines of poetryseen encircling the sides of an ovoid vase (1997.337).

Initially, amateurs interesting in china painting sought instruction from professional decorators. In New York City, Englishimmigrants Edward Lycett and John Bennett, trained in the Staffordshire pottery tradition, developed individualistic styles.Both artists encouraged china-decorating efforts by teaching classes in their studios and firing amateurs’ work in theirkilns.

Lycett displayed precocious talent and left London in 1861 to begin a career in the United States. Within a decade, heestablished a reputation as one of the most talented china painters in New York City. He conducted classes in his shopand at the Cincinnati and St. Louis Schools of Design. Lycett painted overglaze decorations in a naturalistic, highlyfinished, and minutely detailed style. He reached his creative apogee as artistic director of the Faience ManufacturingCompany of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, an art pottery that produced wares of exotic shape and decoration in the Aestheticstyle (1991.58).

The distinctive underglaze-painted wares of Doulton and Company, in Lambeth, England, were praised at the 1876Philadelphia Centennial and enthusiastic Americans eagerly acquired those decorated by employee John Bennett.Seeing a market for his work, Bennett left Doulton in 1878 and established a studio in Manhattan, where he taughtunderglaze painting. That year, the Society of Decorative Art in New York enlisted him to teach. Bennett’s techniqueinvolved painting directly onto the earthenware body with metallic oxides that were then coated with a clear glaze andfired. Objects decorated by Bennett or under his supervision synthesize Near and Far Eastern influences and naturalisticsubject matter in characteristic Aesthetic Movement style, as seen on a covered vase painted with asymmetricalblossoming branches of forsythia and prunus (1985.168).

As interest in china painting grew, women across the country formed china-painting clubs and societies and invitedprofessionals and fellow china painters to teach classes. While women living in or near major cities were able to attendclasses in professional decorating studios and design schools, amateurs who lived far from urban centers relied oninstruction books by decorators such as M. Louise McLaughlin, Camille Piton, and Adelaide Osgood for advice andaesthetic guidance. Home decorating and craft magaz ines, such as Art Interchange, Art Amateur, and, later, KeramicStudio, helped to disseminate information by providing technical tips and suggestions for designs. Trade cataloguesadvertised a wide array of porcelain blanks, enamels, brushes, equipment, and even portable kilns available for salethrough the mail. The invention of the portable coal or gas- fired kiln enabled amateur china decorators to fire their workat home, transforming their experience.

Frequently ladies decorated imported porcelain blanks. Eager to capitalize on the interest in china decoration, Americanpotteries began manufacturing whiteware and porcelain blanks for amateurs. For example, the Ceramic Art Company,founded by Walter Scott Lenox and Jonathan Coxon Sr. in 1889 and predecessor to Lenox, introduced a line of plainwhite porcelain blanks for amateur decoration, a practice that Lenox would continue. To advertise their wares, theCeramic Art Company contributed eggshell- thin Belleek porcelain blanks as prizes for an amateur china-decoratingcontest held in Cincinnati in 1896. The following year, they inaugurated the National China Painters’ Bowl Competition inNew York City, which featured a three-day display of the contestants’ entries, including objects such as a meticulouslypainted bowl (1987.26), at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Two different styles of china painting developed. The naturalistic style of china painting was the earliest mode ofdecoration. Adhering to the principles espoused by English art critic John Ruskin, amateurs studied and drew inspirationfrom nature. Fashionable Japanese art typically depicted natural subject matter as well. Mindful that the design must besubservient to the ceramic form, amateurs decorated wares with carefully observed flowers, fruit, landscapes, and birdsor animals (1991.370.4). Even though many amateurs continued to decorate in the naturalistic style, conventionaldecoration, rooted in the ideas promoted by Owen Jones in The Grammar of Ornament (1856), became more populartoward the end of the century. Nature continued to serve as the source of inspiration for amateurs, but flowers and plantswere now reduced to stylized, geometric forms in what was seen as a more progressive style (1987.227).

Though many women continued to purchase and decorate ceramic blanks produced by major potteries well into thetwentieth century, others working in art potteries and independently, following the precedent set by M. Louise McLaughlinand Maria Longworth Nichols, took ceramic decorating a step further by immersing themselves in all aspects of pottery

making, from conception to creation.

The Newcomb Pottery, begun in 1894, was part of the academic and artistic curriculum at H. Sophie Newcomb MemorialCollege, the women’s division of Tulane University in New Orleans. China-painting and pottery-decorating classesprepared women for a career in the ceramics industry. As was common practice in many art potteries, Newcombemployed men to throw the pottery, but students designed and decorated the wares, which frequently display distinctlySouthern iconography such as the iris or gnarled Spanish-moss-draped trees (1983.26).

The Paul Revere Pottery began in 1908 as the Saturday Evening Girls, an association formed to educate and trainyoung immigrants from Boston’s North End. Girls who worked at the pottery were able to earn extra money for schoolingand received training for a career in pottery decoration. As at Newcomb, the decorators worked in conjunction with apotter and a kiln man. Though their output was primarily dinnerware, the pottery produced exceptionally large andstrikingly decorated vessels as well (2000.31).

Of all the women working with ceramics at the turn of the twentieth century, none was more accomplished than AdelaideAlsop Robineau. In the course of her career, Robineau evolved from amateur china painter of porcelain blanks, todesigner, potter, and technical innovator extraordinaire. Self- taught from china-painting manuals, Robineau moved toNew York City as a young woman to continue her artistic studies and eventually became a china-painting instructor. Afterher marriage to Samuel Robineau in 1899, they began to publish the monthly periodical Keramic Studio, which she wouldco-edit with fellow china painter and designer Anna B. Leonard. Keramic Studio provided decorating designs byprominent artists and instruction for designers, potters, decorators, and firers. Leonard left in 1903, but Robineau and herhusband continued publishing the successful periodical, which provided them with a steady income and facilitated herceramic endeavors. Undoubtedly inspired by M. Louise McLaughlin’s experiments, Robineau had turned from chinapainting to porcelain making in 1901. Her early work features carved stylized naturalistic motifs (2004.464), but Robineauultimately employed myriad techniques in the creation and decoration of her delicate porcelains. She excised the claybody of her vessels and filled the carved spaces with colored glazes that she coated with a clear glaze and fired,creating a translucent cloisonné effect. She experimented with matt and crystalline glazes. Asian, Egyptian, Native andSouth American art frequently informed her designs (23.145). Upon her death in 1929, Robineau was accorded the rarehonor of being the first artist potter to be given a retrospective exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art—a befittingcoda to a remarkable career.

Barbara VeithIndependent Scholar

Alice Cooney FrelinghuysenDepartment of American Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation

Veith, Barbara and Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen. "Women China Decorators". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. NewYork: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/woch/hd_woch.htm (April 2013)

Further Reading

Blaszczyk, Regina Lee “The Aesthetic Movement: China Decorators, Consumer Demand, and TechnologicalChange in the American Pottery Industry, 1865–1900.” Winterthur Portfolio 29 (Summer/Autumn 1994): 121–153.. n/a: n/a,n/a.

Brandimarte, Cynthia “Darling Dabblers: American China Painters and Their Work, 1870–1920.” American CeramicCircle Journal 6 (1988): 6–27.. n/a: n/a, n/a.

Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney "Aesthetic Forms in Ceramics and Glass." In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and theAesthetic Movement, pp. 220–21.. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.

Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney “Empire City Entrepreneurs: Ceramics and Glass in New York City.” In Art and theEmpire City: New York 1825–1861, pp. 327–31, 536–38.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.

Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney American Porcelain, 1770–1920. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.

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