Roseville Pottery - The Teens

The Teens
A time of transition
The second decade of the 20th century was a time of change for America and the World. The Arts & Crafts Era was coming to an end in Europe and the US (around 1915) and there was the Great War. Companies such as Roseville would be forced to change in order to survive--and change they did. In this case, change was good and it laid the foundation for the bright future to come.

Along with the changes in decorating tastes there was the not-so-little concern about the production cost of individual decorated art driving prices beyond what the average consumer could afford. Shapes and glazes were becoming the norm and decals were being used as an inexpensive decoration on many of the lines produced.
Sometime prior to 1916 Roseville began producing Creamware which is a generic classification for a number of lines that were decorated mostly with decals. Some of the other lines in this category were Persian, Autumn and Gold Traced.The most common of the Creamware is Juvenile which was decorated with various child-pleasing animal motifs and nursery rhymes featuring sunbonnet wearing girls. Juvenile remained in production for many years. Another new Creamware line was the Tourist line which, as the name implies, was decorated with a touring car. Tourist is one of the true rarities for the collector.

There were a number of lines produced during this time which were so atypical that it is almost as if the company was searching for direction:

MOSTIQUE: 1915. Indian inspired designs of abstract flower forms and pointed arrowhead shaped foliage slip decorated over bisque unglazed. Interiors glazed. Occasionally found wholly glazed. 101 shapes. Marked with RV ink stamp or occasionally MOSTIQUE.

PAULEO: 1914. Lustre or marbleized glaze. Satiny finish. Premium line with lush, deep glazes. Pauleo was named after George Young's daughter in law Pauline and his daughter Leota. Some pieces are decorated with hand painted designs or decals. Marked w/ Pauleo ceramic seal or paper sticker (or not marked if sticker is gone).

ROSECRAFT BLACK: 1916. Simple shapes in highglaze black. Marked with foil and paper labels.

ROZANE LINE: 1917. Honeycomb design backgrounds in ivory, pink, green, blue and yellow. Rose and foliage decoration in light colors. Marked with Rozane, RPCo, round Rozane seal, or round Rozane seal with chevron.

SYLVAN: 1918. Incised designs of dogs, owls, foxes, ivy acorns, maples leaves, chickens. Tree bark type background. Colors muted and mostly in the low-relief portions of design. Glazed interiors. One of the first Ferrell lines. 25 shapes. No mark.

ANTIQUE MATT GREEN: Prior to 1916. Simple line with no decoration, often with somewhat Classical types blanks. No mark.

CARNELIAN I: 1910-1915. Ornate handles. Matte with a drip glaze in a darker color over a lighter one. 103 shapes. Blue, turquoise, green over pink, and green over gold. Marked with large RV ink stamp or paper label.

DONATELLO: 1916. Vertical fluting in ivory with green lowlights, alternating with a brown band and cherubs and trees. 109 shapes. Marked with large RV ink stamp, impressed Donatello, RPCo, or blue shape numbers, or unmarked.

EARLY PITCHERS: pre-1916. Highglaze, with colorful scenes in various patterns. No mark.

In 1917, when Frank Farrell became artistic director for Roseville, the pottery finally set out on a well-thought-out, new direction. Farrell took the company in that new direction which in my opinion resulted in the best years for the Roseville Pottery Company. By the end of the teens or early twenties Roseville Pottery production, in my opinion, should no longer be called 'Art Pottery' but 'Industrial Art Ware' (not my term but I totally agree).