Van Briggle Art Pottery Information.
Information is the keyword here as this Web site is not for
buying,
selling or such. The exception may be books on Van Briggle
It is a work in progress and I am looking for suggestions and or contributions from anyone and everyone. I decided long ago to concentrate my Van Briggle collecting to pieces produced before 1930 and, at least initally that will be the primary focus here. I have nothing against later production but I don't know much aout it. I am looking for an expert to cover this area.
The Van Briggle Pottery Company was founded around 1900 in Colorado Springs, Colorado by Artus and Anne Van Briggle with Art pottery production beginning in 1901. There are only a very few examples from 1900 known to exist and most, if not all are very plain pots. Artus and Anne had both been employed by Rookwood Pottery before moving to Colorado because of Artus's health problems. He suffered from tuberculosis and it was believed the climate and altitude change in Colorado would be beneficial.
After the death of Artus 1n 1904 Anne ran Van Briggle Pottery until 1912 when the pottery was sold. During this time near 1000 different designs had been created. Many of these designs were the foundation of pottery produced in the late teens and twenties. The most sought after examples are from the beginnings through the 1930s
The Van Briggle Pottery has been in continuous operation since it was founded in 1900.
The following text is taken from a catalog published in the late teens.
A copy of the catalog with images as an Adobe Acrobat file can be found HERE. I used to print and sell these but now you can download yours for free.
Upon this wonderful achievement the present plant (the second largest in the United States) was made possible in 1907. A site was chosen in the upper end of MONUMENT PARK (Colorado Springs’ most beautiful playground), where an unsurpassed view of Pikes Peak and the Front Range would be a constant inspiration for those actively engaged in carrying on this great work. Neither layman nor artist is here hampered by the humdrum of factory life, but both are lifted to those higher manifestations of a living art of which the VAN BRIGGLE product has come to be representative.
Thousands of summer visitors to Colorado Springs are attracted by the unusual architecture of our buildings— their artistic effect heightened by a wealth of colored tiles carried out to the minutest detail, and by curious figures here and there, which one might feel were inspirations from Notre Dame.
We carry all the pieces shown in this
catalog, in the following colors: rose-pink, mulberry, turquoise, blue, green
and brown.
If you ever should visit the Pikes Peak region, it will amply repay you if you can arrange your plans to visit this wonderful plant, where you will be shown the making of the product in all its phases.
When gift time comes around again, let us help you to solve some of your problems of selection.
Some mention might be made of its early trademark, which is used to the present time. Artemus and Ann, the given names of its founders seemed more fitting than a nondescript mark; so the double initial of "A" may be found on each piece of pottery
VAN BRIGGLE POTTERY AT THE ST. LOUIS FAIR.
At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 the
VAN BRIGGLE exhibit was awarded two gold,. one silver, and two
bronze medals: failing to secure the Grand Prix only because
it was against the rules to make that award to a first exhibit. At the Lewis
and Clarke Exposition a gold medal—the highest award made—was given
to the VAN BRIGGLE exhibit. The Boston Arts and Crafts Society
at its Tenth Anniversary meeting conferred the highest honors upon it.
It is impossible For us to publish a catalog covering all the different .shapes and designs of VAN BRIGGLE POTTERY -- no two pieces are exactly alike -- and we are constantly adding to our designs. Any of the pieces shown will be forwarded if we receive the number of the vase desired, as given in the catalog, and the color is specified.
Although the product of one the youngest of American potteries, VAN BRIGGLE WARE is already known throughout the world of art, both at home and abroad, for the rare texture of its glazes. This dull, velvety finish, ranging from a perfectly dead effect to a slight gloss, is the most satisfactory result of long and difficult experiments on the part of Mr. Artus Van Briggle, who, after many years of training both as a painter and as a potter, found his final inspiration in the old Chinese pots, which it was his privilege to study in the Paris museums. It became his ambition to equal or surpass these rare pots in purity of color, in design, and in texture. In all these qualities VAN BRIGGLE POTTERY is universally conceded to equal anything in existence. The final experiments for the glazes were carried on in Colorado, which abounds in fine clay bodies.
The making of the pottery was-begun on a small scale in 1902; Mr. Van Briggle, with the assistance of a thrower and a boy, doing all the work himself. Although the ware received immediate recognition from connoisseurs, it was not until the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 that it became known to the general public. The ware is a product of hard fire, and the aim has been to produce, not only rich and varied color, but a beauty and dignity of line which shall be free from eccentricity. The undecorated pots show to great advantage the quality of the glaze. Upon pots which are decorated the design is modeled in low relief, chiefly from conventionalized flower motifs, with the idea of adding to the charm of the original line of the pot - never for the sake of decoration itself. We believe it better art to bring out a limited duplication of a beautiful and carefully thoughtout design, varying in each piece the color and glaze effect, than to seek, and execute hastily, a new design for each piece. The color range is wide and very suggestive of Colorado, reflecting with equal fidelity to nature the brilliant turquoise of the sky, and the reds, grays, browns, yellows, blues, and purples which exist in striking effect in the crags and canyon walls, and in the more subtle tones of the incomparable dawn and twilight of the plains.
The connoisseur admires VAN BRIGGLE WARE because it is different from the product of other potteries, and at the same time sacrifices nothing in quality, the home-maker wants it because it affords a combination of beauty, simplicity, and usefulness which assures it an appropriate place among the adornments of any home. In the manufacture of art pottery a thorough knowledge of clays, glazes, and other raw materials used is necessary. This knowledge can be obtained only by years of practical experience and through a multitude of experiments. The skill required seems almost marvelous to a person who sees the work for the first time. Visitors are invited to go through the plant. A competent guide will accompany them and explain every detail. One sees the raw clay as it comes from the mines, the special machinery required to prepare it, the casters, and the deft potter throwing is followed on through the wonderful processes of burning, glazing, and finishing; and the visitor finally returns to the display-rooms, where hundreds of various shapes and colors are exhibited.
