: An exhibit featuring many rare pieces by American and Peoria
Pottery companies will be on view until March 21 at the Lakeview
Museum of Arts and Sciences.
The City of Peoria, advantageously located on the Illinois River,
was already an industrial and commercial hub for the state when
an extensive railroad system developed throughout Illinois in the
late 1850s and 1860s. Once connected to Eastern communities as
well as vast Western territories, Peoria became a warehouse and
manufacturing district.
City officials actively sought businesses to move to Peoria and
further boost the local economy. American Pottery Company,
forerunner of Peoria Pottery Company, was among the several
factories that opened in Peoria during this expansive period
prior to the Civil War.
Illinois appealed to pottery manufacturers because of its
abundant and high-quality clay deposits for earthenware and
stoneware production, convenient water and coal supplies and
effective river and rail transportation options. In 1858, the
Illinois Central Railroad sent samples of fine-grained clay found
along their lines to several East Coast potters, including
Christopher W. Fenton (1808-1865) of the United States Pottery
Co. (1849-1858) in Bennington, Vt.
The United States Pottery Company had a national reputation for
quality household and ornamental wares made in several types of
clays and with popular glazes. It was the first American pottery
to produce Parian ware and held a patent on a flint enamel glaze
known as "Fenton's Enamel." The firm had exhibited examples of
its wares at the Crystal Palace exhibitions in London, 1851, and
New York City 1852, yet it was failing financially in 1858.
Decius W. Clark, superintendent of United States Pottery Company,
experimented with the Illinois clay sample and recognized it to
be a quality stoneware clay, superior to many fine English
samples. Fenton decided to close his business in Vermont and open
"an immense pottery ... designed to give employment to one
thousand operatives" somewhere in Illinois where he would have
superior clay and access to an improved freight system for
shipping.
Fenton expected to save $56,000 per year on Illinois coal
compared with costs in Vermont where he had to ship coal a
considerable distance. So he advertised a stock offering in the
new American Pottery Company through newspapers in Alton,
Bloomington, Chicago, Peoria, Quincy and Springfield. A committee
of Peoria businessmen responded by paying Fenton a visit in July
1859 and convinced him to relocate to their city; perhaps the
fact that old Fort Clark (1813-1817) in Peoria was named for
Clark's father, General George Rogers Clark, clinched the deal.
Construction for the American Pottery Company began in October
1859. The pottery was designed in the shape of a large six-spoked
wheel with the offices located in the center hub, the workshops
in the "spokes" and the kilns along the outer rim between the
spokes. The first firing, in June 1860, produced the saggers and
other kiln furniture necessary to fire vessels.
Clark and Daniel Greatbach, a famous mold maker from England,
accompanied Fenton to Peoria. By 1861, the factory employed about
60 men making a wide variety of utilitarian and ornamental wares,
including cream-colored dining and tea ware, whitewares and
toilet sets for sale throughout Illinois and adjoining states.
Despite initial success, American Pottery Company never completed
its ambitious building plans and suspended work in early 1863.
Another business, Peoria Pottery Company owned by John Bryner and
William Travis, was operating in a portion of the American
Pottery Co. building, making utilitarian wares for commercial and
domestic use. Bryner and Travis bought the American Pottery Co.
property and equipment, which included molds from decorative
wares that Greatbach had designed in Vermont and brought to
Illinois.
Peoria Pottery Co. suffered occasional setbacks, including at
least one fire around 1871. Tobias S. Bradley, business investor
and husband of Lydia Moss Bradley (founder of Bradley University)
purchased the company in 1864; Mrs Bradley remained involved in
the business until 1885. She invested heavily in Peoria Pottery
and attempted to rebuild the pottery using the original plans
from American Pottery Co. Peoria Pottery employed an average of
50 workers throughout the year, producing, for example, 300,000
flowerpots in one week.
Peoria Pottery Co. prided itself on a dark brown glaze it called
"Peoria glaze." This variation on "Albany slip" is high in iron
content. The company also used traditional salt glazing on
utilitarian crocks and jugs and a mottled brown Rockingham glaze,
named for the Marquis of Rockingham, who owned a pottery
manufactory in Swinton, England.
Most items produced by the Peoria Pottery Co. are marked by the
manufacturer and/or for the company that commissioned them.
Peoria Pottery Company marked their wares with "Peoria Pottery"
or "Peoria Illinois" and the later pieces produced for the hotels
have an "Ironstone Warranted" mark on the underside.
The museum is at 1125 West Lake Avenue. Hours are
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesday to 8 pm and Sunday,
noon to 5 pm. For information, 309-686-7000 or
www.lakeview-museum.org.
