American Art Pottery: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection

By Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Martin Eidelberg, and Adrienne Spinozzi

This volume chronicles the history of American art pottery through more than 300 works in the outstanding collection of Robert A. Ellison Jr. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Between the 1870s and the 1950s, American ceramics were transformed from industrially produced ornamental works to handcrafted art pottery. Celebrated ceramists such as George E. Ohr, Hugh C. Robertson, M. Louise McLaughlin, Maria Longworth Nichols, and Frederick Hurten Rhead harnessed the potential of the medium to create an astonishing range of dynamic forms and experimental glazes.

American Art Pottery places these works in the context of turn-of-the-century commerce, design, and social history—discussing not only the innovative styles and aesthetics the artists developed, but also the educational and therapeutic functions the pottery filled. Written by a team of esteemed scholars and copiously illustrated, this book imparts a full understanding of American art pottery, while celebrating the legacy of a visionary collector.

Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen is Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts in The American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Martin Eidelberg is professor emeritus of art history at Rutgers University, New Jersey, and an independent scholar.

Adrienne Spinozzi is Assistant Research Curator in The American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.