Weller Pottery Featured in 0 at Home Magazine

If you’re looking for an example of authentic arts and crafts decorating, look no further than your local magazine stand. O at Home, Oprah Winfrey’s home décor magazine, printed a feature article on the vacation retreat of Bil and Ruth Ehrlich in the Spring 2008 publication.

The Ehrlich’s upstate New York home, which Bil designed, is a work of prairie-style art in itself. It is a rural, natural-looking structure that was created from joining five different nineteenth-century farm buildings. Inside this unique retreat, you’ll find many details that give the home an authentic Arts and Crafts feel. The living room windows are antique, prairie-style windows from a house in Cincinnati. The stove is a restored, late 1920s Magic Chef with three ovens and six burners. In the bathroom, there is a blue tin bathtub with cast-iron legs and oak trim. Stickley furniture in the dining room and living room complete the turn-of-the- century look of the Ehrlich’s home.

The unifying theme throughout the home, though, is the Weller Pottery that graces each shelf, table, mantel, and ledge. There is even a small collection of Weller on top of the Magic Chef stove. The Ehrlich’s have such an extensive collection of Weller Pottery that they have yet to find places to display all of their pieces. Their collection includes several Art Nouveau vases by French ceramist Clement Massier, which now sell for thousands of dollars each. Many of their pieces were purchased at the annual Pottery Lovers Weekend in Zanesville, Ohio.

The Ehrlich’s home away from home is a wonderful backdrop for their art pottery collection, and the O at Home staff captured the essence of their style perfectly. There are beautiful pictures of the pottery pieces, like the one of the Weller Pottery vases and planters displayed behind the mission-style couch. There is also an overhead view of the Stickley dining room table set with Weller Coppertone ceramics. The entire article is very well done, exhibiting both the beauty of Weller Pottery and the passion of true art pottery collectors.

Just Art Pottery

Weller Pottery Reference Books

The following is a list of the best books on Weller Pottery.

The Collector's Encyclopedia of Weller Pottery, Sharon and Bob Huxford

All About Weller: A History and Collector's Guide to Weller Pottery, Zanesville, Ohio, Ann Gilbert McDonald

Weller Pottery: The Rare, The Unusual, The Seldom Seen,  Linda Carrigan and Allan Wunsch

All About Weller Book II: A History of Weller Pottery, the Founder, the Family, the Lines, and the Artists, Ann Gilbert McDonald

Weller, Roseville and related Zanesville Art Pottery and Tiles with Price Guide, Betty Ward & Nancy Schiffer

Weller Pottery with Price Guide, Jeffrey B. Snyder

Weller Pottery Identification and Price Guide, Denise and David Rago

Greg Myroth - Just Art Pottery

Weller Pottery - Journal of American Art Pottery Association

Collectors of Weller Pottery will definitely want to check out the September 2007 issue of The Journal of the American Art Pottery Association. The September issue will focus entirely on Weller Pottery. The Journal's articles will include the following topics:

1. Weller Hudson Kappa Vases
2. Weller  Hudson State Vases
3. Weller Collectors Who Specialize in One Line of Weller,  Bonito, Cameo Jewel, Florenzo, and Wild Rose.........A Chapter from Book III of ALL ABOUT WELLER, by Ann Gilbert McDonald.
4. Weller Art Tiles
5. Weller Hudson Light

Greg Myroth - Shop for Weller Pottery

Weller Pottery Patterns - Top 10

My top 10 Weller pottery patterns in terms of popularity.

1. Weller Hudson - Hudson is the most recognized artist decorated line of Weller pottery.  There were many variations of Weller Hudson including Blue and Decorated, Copra, Gray (Hudson light), Perfecto, Rochelle and White and Decorated.  Many of Weller's top decorators such as Hester Pillsbury, Sarah McLaughlin, Claude Leffler, Dorothy England (Laughead) and Sarah Timberlake decorated vases for the popular Hudson patterns.
2. Weller Sicard - The Sicard line was introduced by Jacques Sicard in 1901.  Sicard had worked with Clement Massier and under intense secrecy perfected the iridescent metallic glaze.  Most examples of Weller Sicard are found marked with Sicard or Sicardo Weller on the body and often as an integral part of the artwork. 
3. Weller Louwelsa - The Louwelsa pattern was introduced to compete with Rookwood's standard glaze and Roseville's Rozane.  Louwelsa has maintained a broad collector interest throughout the history of American art pottery.  In addition to Weller's standard glaze, Louwelsa vases were produced in red, blue, green and matte glaze.  Weller Louwelsa portrait vases are rare and highly sought after by collectors.  Portrait vases typically include subject matter such as Native Americans, monks, cavaliers as well as animals such as cats and dogs.
4. Weller Woodcraft/Muskota -The Weller Woodcraft line, particularly pieces decorated with Muskota figures are extremely popular with art pottery collectors.  Weller Muskota figures include butterflies, birds, fish, other animals, nudes, and children.
5. Weller Camelot - The highly decorative Camelot line is very popular with Weller collectors.  It seems we find 3 to 5 pieces of Weller Camelot a year and typically sell them within a week or so.  Camelot vases are typically smaller in stature than many other Weller Pottery patterns.  Some Weller experts believe Camelot was originally called Souevo I. 
6. Weller Art Nouveau - Sam Weller introduced the Weller Art Nouveau line in response to the Art Nouveau movement, which began in Paris in the late 1800s. Weller Art Nouveau is typically found with a light/medium green to buff color matte ground with raised designs of ladies with flowing dresses or fruits and florals. 
7. Weller Glendale - The Weller Glendale pattern is meticulously decorated with all types of bird and scenic designs.  Glendale was introduced in the early 1920s and is popular with collectors of middle period Weller Pottery.
8. Weller Matte Green - In response to the success of Grueby's matte green, over 30 potteries produced matte green pottery during the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 1900s. The matte green pottery produced by Weller ranks among the more desirable by arts and crafts pottery collectors.  In general, the vase forms used by Weller for its matte green pottery were more pleasing than that produced by competitors such as Hampshire and Roseville. Matte green competitors included Wheatley, Owens, Cambridge, Teco and many more.
9. Weller Dickensware - There were three Dickensware lines.  Dickensware I was similar to Louwelsa and Dickensware III was similar to Weller Eocean.  Dickensware II (Dickensware Second Line) which is typically more sought after by art pottery collectors was created by Sam Weller based on themes from Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers.  Later Dickensware II subject matter included more varied themes.  Dickensware Second Line vases are often very large in comparison to most other Weller Pottery patterns. 
10. Weller Fru Russet or Matte Ware - The Fru Russet line was introduced around 1905 and is a rare and highly sought after arts and crafts Weller pattern.  Vases from the Fru Russet or Matte Ware line are typically matte green, blue, or brown and are often decorated with floral designs. 

Look here for more information on Weller Pottery:

• Weller Pottery History
• Weller Pottery Marks
• Buying Weller Pottery

Greg Myroth

Required Reading For Weller Pottery Collectors

Ms. Ann Gilbert McDonald has recently released her latest book, ALL ABOUT WELLER, BOOK II, A History of Weller Pottery, the Founder, the Family, the Lines, and the Artists.  The book represents 30 years of research on the Weller Pottery Company. This valuable art pottery reference book comes in a hardbound edition, with price guide, and comprises ten chapters, 182 pages and is autographed by the author.

It includes biographies of the founder, Samuel A. Weller, the presidents of the Pottery, and several of the famous artists who worked there. The book begins with a description of some of the early lines, produced from 1894 to 1910, including Weller Lonhuda.

There are chapters on The Evolution of Weller Hudson, Weller artists, such as: Levi J. Burgess, Anthony Dunlavy, Gazo Fudji, William A. Long, Edward L. Pickens, Frank Ferrell, Claude Leffler, and Sarah R. McLaughlin. The last two chapters cover the garden wares, the Weller Birds and Animals, the tiles and plaques, and the fantasy figurines, such as Pan with Rabbit and Pan with Fife.

The appendices comprise Marks on Weller Pottery, Signatures of the Weller Artists, Chronology of the Pottery, and Methods of Production. A bibliography and index are also provided.

This information packed reference guide is a must read for all Weller Pottery collectors.

You can pre-order ALL ABOUT WELLER, BOOK II, A History of Weller Pottery, the Founder, the Family, the Lines, and the Artists now and the autographed book will ship after April 1, 2007.

Greg Myroth - Art Pottery Reference Books

Weller Pottery Marks (1895 to 1900)

The Weller Pottery factory used a variety of marks over its years of production.  In this post, we will look at trademarks used prior to 1900. 

Lonhuda Pottery (1895-1896) Sam Weller purchased Lonhuda pottery from William Long in 1894.  Lonhuda Pottery was founded in Steubenville, Ohio in 1892.  The first trademark shown below is from a Lonhuda vase produced by Weller in 1895 or 1896.  The second mark is an example of a Lonhuda pottery vase produced between 1892 and 1895 and prior to the purchase of the company by Weller.  The mark shows an impressed outline of an Indian head with Lonhuda written above it.      

 

Weller Aurelian (1898-1910)  Weller Aurelian can be found with either a circular stamp trademark or a hand incised mark.  It is believed by many Weller pottery collectors that the hand incised mark was used prior to 1900 and the circular stamp trademark was used after 1900.

Weller Eocean (1898-1918) Similar to Aurelian, Weller Eocean can be found with either a circular stamp trademark or a hand incised mark.  The hand incised mark (as shown on the vase on the left side below) was used prior to 1900 and the circular stamp trademark was used after 1900.  The trademark shown on the Weller vase on the right side is marked Weller Eocean in a circular stamp. You will also find examples of Weller Eocean marked Eosian Weller, and Eocean Rose.

Weller Dickensware 1st Line (1897-98) The Weller pottery half circle seal as shown on the vase below can be found on examples of Weller Dickensware, Louwelsa, Turada, and Sicard.

Weller Louwelsa (1896-1924) Early Weller Louwelsa can be found with a hand-incised Weller mark as shown on the blue Louwelsa vase in the first photo below.  The second photo shows a vase with the circular seal mark.  The last photo shows the half circle seal trademark which Weller used between 1896 and the early 1900s.

Greg Myroth - Shop for Weller Pottery