Vase

The American Arts and Craft Movement fostered many commercial art pottery studios that made wares for the middle-class domestic interior. The Weller Pottery, located in Zanesville, Ohio, was a leading firm among the many art potteries in the Midwest. It often blatantly based its designs on its more famous sister institution, Rookwood Pottery in nearby Cincinnati, with an eye for marketing less expensive serial versions of the upscale, one-of-a-kind pieces made by Rookwood. Japanese ornament was an important model for the painted decoration of both firms: the artfully arranged rose bud and thorns here are indebted to this widespread design phenomenon called Japanism. The Weller vase also demonstrates the trademark atomized tan-to-brown glaze ground and slightly modeled slip-painted design of the firm’s Louwelsa line. In this case, it offers a classic comparison with Rookwood pottery, especially the work of the noted Japanese designer Kataro Shirayamadani who immigrated to the United States and formed an influential link between American and Japanese design.