Tile
Object NameTile
Manufacturer
Pewabic Pottery
(American (Detroit, MI), founded 1903)
Mediumearthenware
Dimensions3 7/8 × 3 13/16 in. (9.8 × 9.7 cm)
ClassificationsDecorative Arts, Ceramics
Credit LineTransferred from the Department of Materials Science. In the permanent collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberUM2014.198
Status
Not on viewCollections
CultureAmerican
Label TextBoth decorative and architectural tiles were a significant part of the Ohio and Midwestern pottery industry. The Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, the American Encaustic Tiling Co. and Mosaic Tiling Co. in Zanesville, and the Rookwood Pottery were particularly prominent in the production of tiles. Matte glazed plain or field tiles were particularly popular, but pictorial or figural tiles were also in demand. The latter were even sold individually as giftware. The tiles would be used individually or in installations around a fireplace or in a kitchen.
About 1903, Mary Chase Perry (American, 1867–1961) founded the Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Michigan while at the same time she helped to found the Detroit Arts and Crafts Society. Perry was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a town called Hancock. Like so many of her female peers, Perry began as a china painter and became more and more interested in glaze chemistry seeking out formal education from the Art School of the Detroit Museum of Art and at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Pewabic Pottery specialized in unusual iridescent luster glazes as seen in the five square tiles on exhibition, and Perry's pottery forms were kept simple to serve as a background for the glaze. Her matte glazes in brown, green, gold and red were a perfect complement to the Arts and Crafts furnishings of the day. The pottery is still in production.
“Bored with decorating china with proper ladies of culture, Mary Chase Perry, carefully described as “an adventurous artist,” convinced Dr. Horace Caulkin to let her fire her first experimental vases in his backyard kiln. From that humble beginning in 1903 grew Pewabic Pottery, today considered one of the most desirable art potteries of the Arts & Crafts era.” Arts and Crafts Collector, “Pewabic Pottery: Detroit’s Lasting Contribution to A&C” blog post, Jan. 8, 2013.
PeriodArts and Crafts
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Brunnier Main Storage
