Urn,

1883

Maria Longworth Nichols founded Rookwood in 1880, inspired by the pottery she saw at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The granddaughter of the banker and vintner Nicholas Longworth, Maria belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Cincinnati. Already an accomplished ceramics painter at the time of the Centennial, she sought at Rookwood (a name inspired by her father’s estate outside the city) to create wares that were both visually appealing and useful. The pottery was among the first American manufacturers founded by a woman and is known for its many female employees. These pieces display the japonisme, the European interpretation of a Japanese aesthetic, characteristic of Nichols’s work. In 1889, she transferred her interest in the company to William W. Taylor, the firm’s manager, under whose direction the business grew and diversified as demand for American art pottery increased toward the end of the century.