The Union Porcelain Works also manufacture largely hard porcelain insulators and hardware trimmings.
The exquisite fabrications of the Greenpoint works have done much to dispel that unreasonable prejudice which until recently condemned all American productions, of whatsoever merit.
Beautiful as are many of the delicate productions of the potter's skill which are made in molds or by the aid of machinery, clay is a material which yields the most subtle and satisfactory results to the direct touch of the human hand. While printing processes are excellent in their way and indispensable for cheapness where large production is an element to be considered, they are inadequate to give that breadth and freedom of treatment which constitute true artistic decoration.
While visiting the Centennial, Miss M. Louise McLaughlm, of Cincinnati, was strongly impressed with the beauty of the then novel faience from the Haviland potteries of Limoges, and on her return home she determined to discover, if possible, the processes of decoration. Her experiments, partially successful, extended over a period of nearly three years, and in April, 1879, she gathered around her twelve ladies who were interested in decorative art, and the Pottery Club, which has since exercised such an important influence on the ceramic industry in Cincinnati, was then organized. Miss McLaughlin being elected president and Miss Clara Chipman Newton secretary. Experiments were continued at some of the city potteries, where red, yellow, and white wares were made. On the unburned ware colored clays were applied in the manner of oil paints, and some satisfactory results were obtained.
The ceramic display of Japan at the Philadelphia Exhibition was, more than any other perhaps, the artistic impulse that inspired the venture which resulted in the establishment of the Rookwood Pottery in 1880 by Mrs. Maria Longworth Nicholls. Her experiments were continued at this factory, which, through the liberal patronage of Mr. Joseph Longworth, her father, was furnished with the necessary means for carrying it on until its productions had found a market and it could stand financially alone.
The ware produced here is a true faience, and while the shapes employed are mainly reproductions or variations of classic Greek forms, they possess a marked originality in treatment. The potter's wheel is used as far as possible, on account of giving more freedom and greater variety to the outlines. Mr. Charles Mahar is the only thrower employed at the pottery, and his graceful creations have obtained a world-wide celebrity. The method of casting in vogue is that which consists in pouring liquid clay into plaster molds, which absorb the superabundant moisture from the
