Skip to main contentBiographyArtus Van Briggle (1869-1904) studied at the Cincinnati Academy of Art with Frank Duveneck (1848-1919) beginning in 1886. In 1887 Van Briggle joined the decorating staff of the Rookwood Pottery (1880-when?) where he distinguished himself with the management. The Rookwood Pottery sent him to Paris to study at the Academie Julian with Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant from 1894 to 1896. He also studied clay modeling at the Beaux Arts Adademie, Institute of France, which was unusual for the time in the American pottery industry, where decorating and modeling were considered separate crafts in the operation of a ceramic manufacture. Van Briggle's decision to study modeling no doubt arose from his contact with contemporary French ceramics and the Art Nouveau style that was sweeping through Europe. He also would have seen the matt glazes that were a novelty in the French ceramic marketplace. [1]
Van Briggle returned to Cincinnati in 1896 and continued to work as a decorator at Rookwood Pottery while also experimenting with matt glazes. Suffering from tuberculosis, he decided to move to a more salubrious climate and in March, 1899, took up residence in Colorado Springs. He summered in 1899 and 1900 at Chico Basin Ranch while also conducting experiments in glazing and firing at Colorado College.
Van Briggle opened a pottery in 1901 in Colorado Springs, exhibiting the first 200 pieces from his kilns in December of that year. In 1902 he formed the Van Briggle Pottery Company, and in June married Anne Lawrence Gregory (1868-1929), whom he had met in Paris, while both were studying there. Following her husband's death in 1904, she became president of the newly reorganized Van Briggle Company. At this writing in 2011, the Van Briggle is still in business in Colorado Springs.
Van Briggle's pottery was characterized by molded forms covered in matt glazes of soothing colors. The use of molds, which was unusual in the making of art pottery at the time, allowed Van Briggle to create each piece and then reproduce it exactly. Female figures in flowing diaphanous costumes were frequent subjects of his designs, which also included local flora of the Rocky Mountains.
Notes:
[1] Biographical information about Van Briggle is from Barbara M. Arnest, ed. Van Briggle Pottery: The Early Years (Colorado Springs: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1975).
Artus Van Briggle
1869 - 1904
Van Briggle returned to Cincinnati in 1896 and continued to work as a decorator at Rookwood Pottery while also experimenting with matt glazes. Suffering from tuberculosis, he decided to move to a more salubrious climate and in March, 1899, took up residence in Colorado Springs. He summered in 1899 and 1900 at Chico Basin Ranch while also conducting experiments in glazing and firing at Colorado College.
Van Briggle opened a pottery in 1901 in Colorado Springs, exhibiting the first 200 pieces from his kilns in December of that year. In 1902 he formed the Van Briggle Pottery Company, and in June married Anne Lawrence Gregory (1868-1929), whom he had met in Paris, while both were studying there. Following her husband's death in 1904, she became president of the newly reorganized Van Briggle Company. At this writing in 2011, the Van Briggle is still in business in Colorado Springs.
Van Briggle's pottery was characterized by molded forms covered in matt glazes of soothing colors. The use of molds, which was unusual in the making of art pottery at the time, allowed Van Briggle to create each piece and then reproduce it exactly. Female figures in flowing diaphanous costumes were frequent subjects of his designs, which also included local flora of the Rocky Mountains.
Notes:
[1] Biographical information about Van Briggle is from Barbara M. Arnest, ed. Van Briggle Pottery: The Early Years (Colorado Springs: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1975).
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