Roseville Pottery

Located in Roseville, Ohio, the Roseville Pottery Company was founded in 1890 by George F. Young son of a German Immigrant. The Pottery was incorporated in 1892 as the Roseville Pottery Company. 

Roseville initially produced simple utilitarian ware such as flowerpots, stoneware, umbrella stands, cuspidors, and limited painted ware. Roseville expanded in 1897 with the purchase of the Midland Pottery plant also located in Roseville. The Roseville Pottery Company expanded again in 1898 with the purchase of the property of the Clark Stoneware Company, which was located on Linden Avenue in Zanesville, Ohio. Roseville consolidated its operations in 1898 when both plants were moved to the Zanesville location on Linden Avenue.

In 1901, Roseville continued its expansion when the company acquired the Muskingun Stoneware plant at the corner of Muskingun and Harrison in Putnam, Ohio. This newly acquired plant was located just outside Zanesville and just down the road from the Linden Plant. Roseville used this plant for the production of cooking wares. Roseville used its Linden plant to produce fine art pottery. The first art pottery line produced by Roseville was the Rozane line, which was introduced in 1901. Developed by Ross Purdy, the Rozane line was very similar to the art pottery lines produced by some of Roseville's competitors. These pieces were hand-formed and decorated by artists.

In 1904, Frederick Rhead became art director for Roseville Pottery. Rhead was responsible for the production of scarce art pottery lines such as Fudgi, Crystalis, Della Robbia, and Aztec. In the early to mid-1900’s demand for the more expensive increased, hand crafted art pottery declined and Roseville Pottery shifted production to more commercially produced pottery. Roseville's ability to adapt to market conditions was one of the potteries' greatest attributes as Roseville was continually able to produce the most popular patterns and styles compared to their immediate competitors. By 1905 the Roseville Pottery Company employed over 300 workers and produced some 5,000 pieces of art pottery and commercial ware each day. Roseville started to change its production process and the wares produced of Roseville became less individualized. Artistic decorations once applied to the Rozane line by artists and decorators were being replaced by production lines and airbrushing. In 1908 Harry Rhead replaced his brother Frederick as Art Director of Roseville Pottery Company. 

In 1917 Roseville's Cooking ware plant in Putnam suffered a fire and the production of cooking ware was moved to the Linden plant. Subsequently the Linden plant was greatly expanded in 1918. The expansion included a high production continuous tunnel kiln. Pottery entered this kiln at one end and was slowly conveyed through the hottest part of the kiln. The pottery emerged from the other end of the kiln already starting to cool.

George Young retired in 1918 and was replaced by his son Russell T. Young who became secretary-treasurer and general manager of Roseville. The same year George Krause became Technical Supervisor. In 1919, Frank Ferrel succeeded Harry Rhead (Frederick's brother) as art director for Roseville Pottery. Frerrel and George Krause combined to produce many of today's most popular Roseville Pottery patterns including Dahlrose, Rosecraft, Ferella, Sunflower, Blackberry, Cherry Blossom, and Wisteria.

Russell Young passed away in 1931. His mother Mrs. Anna M. Young replaced him. Roseville Pottery Company became Roseville Pottery Inc. the following year. Roseville Pottery introduced Pinecone in 1935. The Pinecone line had been rejected earlier in Roseville's history. It was designed by Frank Ferrell and re-introduced to the public at the urging of a salesman named Charles Snider. Pinecone became the most successful and highest volume pattern produced during the existence of Roseville Pottery. The pattern includes over 75 different shapes in blue, brown, and green. 

George Krause became Vice President of Roseville in 1936. Two years her son-in-law F.S. Clement replaced later Anna Young. World War II necessitated another production change for Roseville Pottery. During this time period, Roseville introduced such patterns as Fuchsia, Cosmos, Columbine, White Rose, Bittersweet, and Zephyr Lily. The Presidency of Roseville again changed in 1945 when his son-in-law Robert P. Windisch succeeded F.S. Clement. F.H. Buerhaus was made Secretary and Treasurer. After World War II there was a decline in sales at Roseville and the plant was sold in 1954 to Mosaic Tile Company.

Throughout Roseville's days of production, its versatility and innovativeness served to keep the company at the forefront of the various decorating styles and buying public trends. Even to this day, Roseville Pottery still represents the most widely known and most collectible art pottery ever produced. There were several different marks used on Roseville Pottery including paper and foil labels, and raised and impressed script lettering. Some marks included the name of the line. Some pieces were marked with no mention of Roseville. Some pieces were not marked at all. Some pottery may have been marked with an impressed mark, but the mark was covered by glaze during production. Some pottery may have been marked with labels, which either fell off or were removed.

Source: Open Source Network