American Art Pottery at Auction: 2022 at a Glance

by Kate Nixon

In a year where we saw the return of in-person shows and auctions, the auction world continued to see collectors buy ceramic works at a furious pace and surpassed a couple of world records in the process. From Marblehead to Newcomb College, 2022 was another memorable year in the auction world and the American art pottery community.

An historically important and iconic lamp with a Louisiana Iris design ($100,000 – $125,000) sold for $262,500 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.

Newcomb College record broken at Rago Arts and Auctions: In September’s Early 20th Century Design auction at Rago Arts and Auctions, a new world record was set for any Newcomb Pottery work with the sale of an historically important and iconic lamp with a Louisiana Iris design ($100,000 – $125,000) for $262,500. The lamp made its debut in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and in an article by pottery expert Dr. Martin Eidelberg, the lamp was described in the early 1900s as the following: “It is beautifully wrought, and the lamp is remarkable not only for the originality of the application of beads to lamp shade purposes, but the discovery that Miss Sheerer has made of a material which will properly shade the lamp without emitting the great heat so common in most shades. The lamp is admired by all visitors to Newcomb College.” The lamp re-surfaced in the 1987 exhibition The Art That is Life: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America 1875-1920. The inclusion of glass beads made this lamp a rare and the only known example of its kind, which made it a popular choice for both literature and museum exhibitions. Additionally, Rago Arts and Auction sold a Mazie Teresa Ryan-designedearly and large vase with a cinquefoil design ($10,000-$15,000) for $24,000. Another of Ms. Ryan’s vase sold at Rago’s – an early vase with gladiolus ($14,000-$19,000) sold for $15,000. Meanwhile in Cincinnati, a May 1st auction at Treadway Gallery saw a large Newcomb College vase carved by Henrietta Bailey ($9,000 – $12,000) sell for $11,000 – read about the intriguing story about this vase here. In a September auction at Treadway’s, a Newcomb College vase designed by K.S. Wraight ($7,500-$9,500) in excellent condition sold for $11,000.

The works of Frederick Hurten Rhead: Employed by the Avon Faience company, Weller Pottery onto art director of Roseville Pottery and later to Santa Barbara, California, Frederick Hurten Rhead’s style evolved into what would become his most well-known series of works: the Della Robbia line. A number of Della Robbia works were offered at auction, including an exceptional vase with a Della Robbia design ($35,000-$45,000) appearing in the publication Frederick Hurten Rhead: An English Potter in America. The vase sold for $87,500. A number of other Della Robbia vases sold this year, including a potpourri jar with stylized blossoms ($15,000-$20,000) that sold for $30,000 and a sage colored Della Robbia vase ($5,000-$7,000) featured in Dr. Martin Eidelberg’s From Our Native Clay: Art Pottery from the Collections of the American Ceramic Arts Society that sold for $20,000. In 2022, Rago Arts and Auction Center additionally broke the record for any Frederick Hurten Rhead vessel when a vase Rhead made during his time at Arequipa Pottery ($35,000-$45,000) sold for $200,000. Decorated with five colors of glaze, the Rhead vase was the best example found yet.

Magic of Marblehead: a top selling vase originating from the collection of Edith Anna Parker Goldthwait, sold for $250,000. Edith, whose brother-in-law Dr. Joel Ernest Goldthwait allowed Marblehead pottery’s founder, Dr. Herbert Hall, to use their family’s mansion in the Devereaux section of Marblehead, purchased, or was gifted, this pottery collection, which has remained in her family for three generations. The top selling vase was featured in Keramic Studio 11, Beauty in Common Things: American Arts & Crafts Pottery from The Two Red Roses Foundation,  The Art That is Life: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America. Additionally, a rare Marblehead vase with conventionalized roses ($30,000-$40,000) which may have been influenced by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh rose, sold for $32,500.

Top Selling Ceramic Works for 2022

 

Mary Sheerer for Newcomb College Pottery Important lamp with Louisiana Irises

Estimate: $100,000–125,000

Sold for: $262,500

USA, 1904
glazed earthenware, patinated metal, beaded shade21 h × 14¾ dia in (53 × 37 cm)

exhibited:Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 30 April – 1 December 1904, St. Louis, MO | The Art That is Life: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America 1875-1920, 4 March – 31 May 1987, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York)

literature:Newcomb Pottery, manufacturer’s catalog, unpaginated Newcomb Pottery: An Enterprise for Southern Women, 1895-1940, Poesch, pg. 43, pl. 18 The Art That is Life: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America 1875-1920, Kaplan, pg. 36 The Arts & Crafts of Newcomb Pottery, Conradsen et. al. , pg. 155, fig. 6 illustrate this example.

 

Marblehead Pottery, Important Ipswich vase

Annie Aldrich and Sarah Tutt for Marblehead Pottery

Estimate: $150,000-$200,000
Sold for $250,000

Sold May 12, 2022

USA, c. 1909
glazed earthenware
8.75 h × 7 dia in (22 × 18 cm)

The present lot is one of only a few known examples.

Impressed manufacturer’s mark to underside ‘MP’ with ship symbol. Incised artist’s initials to underside ‘AT’.

Provenance: Collection of Edith Anna Parker Goldthwait, Marblehead | Thence by descent

Literature: Keramic Studio 11, June 1909, pg. 40 Beauty in Common Things: American Arts & Crafts Pottery from The Two Red Roses Foundation, Clancy and Eidelberg, pg. 88 The Art That is Life: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America 1875-1920, Kaplan, ppg. 256-257

 

Frederick Hurten Rhead for Arequipa Pottery
Important vase

Sold May 12, 2022

Estimate$35,000-$45,000

Sold for: $160,000

ca. 1912
glazed squeezebag-decorated earthenware
7.5 h × 5 dia in (19 × 13 cm)

Glazed manufacturer’s mark, number and date to underside ‘488 1912 AC’ with pot under tree.

Exhibited: “The Art that is Life”: The Arts & Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 4-May 31, 1987; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, August 16-November 1, 1987; The Detroit Institute of Arts, December 9, 1987-February 28, 1988; Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, April 5-June 26, 1988