Weller Art Pottery

By Barbara Nicholson Bell

Samuel A. Weller, born in 1851, began his first pottery in 1872 serving the needs of local farmers in the Ohio area around Fultonham, where his one-room pottery turned out earthenware jugs, crocks, churns, tiles, flower pots and cuspidors. Fultonham is close to Zanesville, the center of a rich clay-producing region which was also home to many other American potteries.

By 1889, he had moved his business to Zanesville and by 1895 had turned to producing fancier wares, influenced by the success of the art potteries around him. By 1905, his plant employed over 500 people and shipped an astonishing three railroad cars of pottery per day! In 10 years, Weller had become the largest maker of art pottery in the world.

In 1893, Weller traveled to Chicago's Columbian Exposition, where he first encountered Laura Fry's Rookwood, Lonhuda, and others. He was also exposed to new art nouveau stylings and the associated incorporation of nature themes into art pottery. Weller foresaw that mass production of molded pottery in fanciful styles could be more profitable than the hand-made art pottery of Rookwood and Lonhuda.

Weller became acquainted with Lonhuda's founder, William Long. Long and Weller joined forces in Zanesville and began joint production, but the partnership was not to last. Weller nevertheless continued making pottery in the style of Lonhuda, and he renamed his line Louwelsa which was an aggregation of 'lou" (his daughter Louise), "wel" (Weller), and "sa" (Sam's initials). Louwelsa was an immediate market success.

The early successes of Weller art pottery centered on portraiture of American Indians, animals and characters from popular Dickens novels. This line came to be known as Dickensware, and is characterized by a high-gloss glaze over dark tones with cream and ivory skin tones in the portraits. Other successful lines followed, as Weller pursued the goal of combining relatively high-quality artistic design with more efficient and less costly manufacturing processes. His ability to focus the company's energies in these two disparate directions made Weller a very profitable firm, while maintaining a reputation for innovation. In 1904, at the St. Louis Exposition, Weller set up a working pottery for the public's view, and exhibited what was then the world's largest vase, a 7-foot tall Aurelian masterpiece. (See Maine Antique Digest, August 1997.)

Although many potteries scaled back production during WWI, Weller continued innovating with both the production process and new design and glaze techniques, and remained profitable. Many of Weller's most popular designs were embossed into the molds, with polychrome glazes, resembling hand-built and decorated art pottery but actually mass-produced. Often influenced by competitors' best selling lines, Weller followed Roseville's popular lines with their own, and today it is often difficult to distinguish between them.

Sam Weller died in 1925, having created a very successful company from his one-room log cabin beginnings. The company passed to his nephew Harry who had been working in the business. Harry died soon thereafter, in 1932, at which point the company was inherited by Sam's two sons-in-law. Weller survived World War II just as it had the First World War, but it was a much smaller company when it emerged from the war years. The company continued in operation until 1948.

Sources:

• All About Weller, A History and Collector's Guide to Weller Pottery, by Ann Gilbert McDonald, 1989
• Art Pottery of the Midwest by Marion John Nelson, 1988
• Weller 2001 Exhibit
• Collectics.com

About the Author:

I have been a writer all my life, a collector of various interesting and old things, a traveler and an artist. More importantly, I've been a mother to four fine sons and grandmother to one very smart young lady. In these capacities and a few miscellaneous others, I've pursued a number of careers. I formerly wrote for Suite101.com on the topics Antiques & Collectibles and Design How-To (formerly, Interior Decorating for Beginners) as well as managing the Arts & Crafts section and several courses and newsletters to do with gardening, the home, and family. My articles have been gathered in two Best of Suite e-books entitled Antiques & Collectibles: The Design Periods, and The Collector's Encyclopedia, vols I & II.

Another stage in my life begins as Editor for Suite101's Home and Garden section. I can now legitimately focus on my passions for interior decorating, gardening and writing all at once!

Recently I was assigned the Health section as well. As the health of my family and myself are of utmost importance to me, I feel honored to have this responsibility. Meanwhile, if other avenues of self-expression present themselves to me, I may follow them as well. Some other very important interests include my husband Russ, Paris (and everything French), and golf.

Article courtesy of Suite101.com.