Ruskin British Art Pottery, Orange Lustreware, Signed and stamped 1926

Description

Vintage Ruskin Lustreware Vase, signed and stamped 1926, during the heart of the Art Deco period. In very good vintage condition, with only a slight scratch, no chips, breaks, or cracks. Measures approximately 3-1/4″ at the base. Width at widest point is approximately 5-1/2″; height is approximately 6″. Mouth opening is 2-1/2″.

About Ruskin. Ruskin is a well-known pottery that was in operation from 1898 until 1935. It was originally founded by Edward R. Taylor (the first Principal of both the Lincoln School of Art and the Birmingham School of Art) as the Birmingham Tile and Pottery Company in 1898, and later renamed Ruskin after the artist, writer, and social thinker, John Ruskin. His son, William Howson Taylor (formally a student at the Birmingham School of Art) served as the pottery’s manager. Ruskin pottery is notable for the innovative glazes used on a range of brightly colored pots, vases, buttons, bowls, tea services and jewelry.

The ceramic glazes devised by William Howson Taylor included misty soufflé glazes, ice crystal effect glazes, crystalline lustre glazes resembling metallic finishes like that shown in this piece, and sang-de-boeuf and flambé glazes which produced a blood-red effect. Having exhibited at home and at international fine art exhibitions, the award of a “grand prize” in 1904 at the  St Louis International Exhibition, gave Ruskin the recognition they needed. Further awards were gained by Ruskin at other international exhibitions, including  Milan 1906 ;  Christchurch, New Zealand, 1907 ;  London 1908 ;  Brussels 1910 ;  Turin 1911 ;  Ghent 1913 .

When the Ruskin pottery studio closed in 1935 the formula for the glazes and all the pottery documentation were deliberately destroyed, so that the unique Ruskin products could never be replicated.