I

Y
by Seymour and Violet Altma

400 pieces

illustrated in color

and black and white


$10.00

dOOK
Of

BUFFALO
POTTERY
by Violet and Seymour Altman
Well over 400 pieces illustrated

and black and white

color

Buffalo pottery
collectible

and

constantly growing

is

thus increasing

collected Buffalo wares,

mation and to

in

popularity as a

both scarcity and price.

in

volume by the Altmans, who have long

This documentary

effort to gather

in

is

the result of their three years'

and preserve

available background infor-

all

and picture as many of the firm's products

list

as possible.
Here,

eleven concise, information-packed chapters, with

in

well over

400 pieces

the reader will find

illustrated

black and white and color,

in

the facts, statistics, and details re-

all

sulting from the research of these dedicated authors. Every

kind of ware the firm

pictured.

Here, too,

known

is

have made

to

is

discussed or

the fascinating background story of

is

the John D. Larkin mail-order company, which founded the

pottery that

made

Blue Willow, advertising

Deldare, Abino,

and commemorative pieces, game sets, pitchers and jugs,

and other articles dating from

its

early days that are cher-

ished and highly valued today.

Buffalo Pottery owes its existence to a cake of soap
Sweet Home Soap made by the John D. Larkin Company.
Giving premiums for the purchase of its soap helped make

Larkin a household word, and eventually the need for ever

more and better premiums resulted

in

Larkin's

founding

Buffalo Pottery to produce ceramic wares for that purpose.

Originally the output

went entirely

to Larkin, but eventually

outside firms and organizations ordered

their specific needs. In

its

articles

made

for

heyday Buffalo Pottery made not

premiums and mail-order merchandise for Larkin,

and commemorative items for others and
commercial tableware as well. Without doubt, the most famous of all Buffalo Pottery products are the distinctive, color-

only Larkin

but advertising

Deldare and Emerald Deldare pieces, dozens of which are

ful

pictured
VI

this

in

and

SI

volume.

ALTMAN

are

known

to

and antique dealers as specialists

player-piano
Pottery

is

rolls.

this

in

the mail-order sale of

other antiques, but Buffalo

their greatest interest as collectors,

sonal collection
for

They also deal

thousands of collectors
in

is

volume,

extensive.
the

In

Altmans

and their per-

the three years of research

examined

all

the

available

Larkin catalogs, talked to descendants of the founder, visited

jvns

and

libraries,

and interviewed former employees

^e pottery.

BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

en awaiting

.ollectible.

the

is

the guide the collector

definitive

volume on

this fasci

^ostoru

fume L>ivraru

Turc&ased witfi Gtdtral'Ounds

THE BOOK
OF
BUFFALO

POTTERY

Rectangular platter 14 by 11 inches shows "Dr. Syntax Advertisement for a

County

Historical Society.

Wife." Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie

THE BOOK
OF
BUFFALO

POTTERY
by
Violet and

Seymour Altman

CROWN PUBLISHERS,

INC.,

NEW YORK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STANLEY

S.

FURRY

Designed by Shari de Miskey

1969 by Violet and Seymour Altman

No

book may be reproduced

by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Inquiries should be addressed to Crown Publishers, Inc.,
One Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016
Printed in the United States of America
Published simultaneously in Canada by

All rights reserved.

part of this

or utilized in any form or

General Publishing

Company Limited

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 7075071

Second Printing, February, 1977

We dedicate this book to our three

children

Renee, Alan, and Joyce

without whose patience, cooperation,

and understanding over the past

three years, this book would not
have been possible

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

1.

The Larkin Company

2.

The

3.

Blue Willow and Gaudy Willow

4.

Pitchers

5.

Fish, Fowl,

6.

Historical,

11

19

Buffalo Pottery

and Jugs

43

and Deer

Sets

53

Commemorative, and

Advertising Wares
7.

Deldare Ware

8.

Abino Ware

9.

Christmas Plates

62

76

125

135

10.

Commercial Service

11.

Miscellaneous Pieces

140

156

COMMERCIAL SERVICE CLIENTS

184

GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

33

188

187

179

Foreword

Countless hours and untold effort have gone into the gathering of information

concerning two Buffalo companies that have contributed

marketing

in

much

to the

mores of

America.

John D. Larkin and Elbert Hubbard were familiar names to an

methods of selling that are

tion of Americans, as they established

earlier genera-

common

prac-

tice today.

Both the Larkin Company and Buffalo Pottery, now Buffalo China, Inc., have
been important contributors to the economy of Buffalo, as well as major factors
in their industries.

We, who have been

identified through the years with these companies, are

particularly pleased that the authors have shared our belief that the story of these

book about it. Because of the

change in the chinaware industry, in which Buffalo China
is a pacesetter, it was necessary for an outsider, someone who loved history and
cherished collectors' items, someone who could look backward to gather together
companies

increasing

is

so interesting one could write a

tempo

of

the strands of this story, to undertake this work.

We
out

have been amazed

many unusual and

historical archives

at the diligence of the authors

little-known items of interest.

and newspaper records and

their

and

We

many

their ability to ferret

know

of their search of

interviews with persons

familiar with, an era long past. This thoroughness should be a testimony to the

accuracy of their authorship where we, the descendants of the founder, cannot

document and corroborate every

nature, however,

embellish the
This book,

imagine

little

fact in the manuscript. In a

work

of this

or no incentive for anyone to distort or

facts.

we

hope, will serve as a sound foundation for the ongoing history

of Buffalo China.
ties in

we can

little

We

make every effort to keep

when this story is updated

shall

the future so that

better records of our activiat

some

later time,

perhaps

during Buffalo's seventy-fifth anniversary in 1976, the authors will not have to
search so hard.

We

hope, too, that this book will give the readers an insight into the manufacture of chinaware in the United States, and enrich their lives with a fuller appreciation of this industry.

Harold M. Esty,
Harry H. Larkin,
Buffalo,

New

York

March, 1969
6

Jr.
Jr.

Acknowledgments

Most of the photographs in this book are the work of our friend and associate
S. Furry. Almost all Buffalo pottery has an extremely brilliant glaze,
which reflects light like a mirror a serious and exasperating problem for Stan,
Stanley

but his complete dedication to our project

won

out in the end.

very special

thanks goes to him for his willingness to cooperate far beyond the call of duty,

and to Beverly Furry, his wife,

to work on our photographs.

We

for the

many

are deeply grateful also to Harold

and Harry H. Larkin,

their interest,

Among

M.

evenings he spent away from

Esty,

Jr.,

home

president of Buffalo China,

grandson of the founder of the Larkin Company, for

kindness, and aid.
Jr.,

the scores of others

who

helped us

in

one way or another, the following

deserve special mention and our sincere thanks:

Mr. Clare Allen

David Meek

Mr. and Mrs. Franz Bach

Joseph Meidel
The Metropolitan

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

The British Museum
Lawrence Brown

of Art

Francis

Murray

Mr. and Mrs. John Navaugh

Arthur Nenstiel

Buffalo Courier Express

Buffalo Evening

Museum

Mrs. John Meyers

News

Buffalo Historical Society

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence M. Nicholson

Buffalo Public Library

Dr. and Mrs. John Prout

Mrs. Clara Rappold

Louise Carney
Mrs.

Emanuel Cascio

Mrs. August Riehs

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad

Mrs.

Mrs.

Ada Jane Corbett

Thomas Cornell

Mrs. Walter B.

Robb

Barry Rodgers

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rowan

Sagamore Hill National Historic

Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Crane

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Cutini
Oscar Dale

June Salvatore
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sprenger

Churchill DeWitt

State University of

Thomas Doncaster
Mrs. Gertrude Doyle

Beth Stegner

East Aurora Historical

Chris Stegner

York

Adele Steinagle

Society

Mrs. Mabel Gerhardt (Deldare

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Stuart

Mrs. Ralph Stuart,

decorator)

Herrmann
Bertha Hyden
Mrs. Alice R.

Mrs. Franklin

Van Arsdale
Anna Vogel

original

employee

Bertha Vogel

Mrs. Emil Klein

Esther Vogel

Fred Krausen

Flora Vogel

engraver and

decorator
Mrs. Winnie Kurtz

Marguerite Marquardt
Tobio Martino
Agnes Masters

Sr.

W. Tripp

Jane

Rix Jennings

Anna Kappler

New

Buffalo

Maude Waver
Cora Webster
Charles White
Frank L. Withee
Carolyn Wood

at

Site

Introduction

Why

book on Buffalo pottery? If you had ever sought information of any

this subject, you would know the reason. Various brief articles about
the pottery and its wares have appeared in magazines, it is true, but most of these
have presented only a minimum of information, and have been laced with inaccuracies. Therefore, in spite of the frustrations and difficulties we encountered
in researching the subject, we felt that such a book was both imperative and
a

kind about

long overdue.

As

far as

we know,

attempt to compile a full-length book on

this is the first

Buffalo pottery. Being native Buffalonians,

originated,

we

believed

into the history of the

advantageous location,

we were

in a

still

living in the city

where the pottery

unique position to do extensive research

company and its

we were amazed

products. Nonetheless, in spite of our

to discover

how

little

is

known about

company whose

history is comparatively recent and whose wares are not

though they are widely sought-after collectors' items. Today,
the products of this pottery, especially the Deldare Ware, are being collected
with increasing eagerness, at constantly rising prices. In fact, few other collectors'
items, antique or not, enjoy the popularity of Buffalo pottery; and it is our belief
that this popularity will increase in the future and the prices continue to soar, for
these wares are well on the road to becoming tomorrow's antiques.
The process of gathering information and specimens of Buffalo pottery for this
book was ( as we have implied ) marked by many problems. For one thing, such
a book should have been written, or the materials gathered, many years ago
this

as yet true antiques,

before most of the people

had

died.

who

could have told the complete story of the pottery

The few who now remain

are well along in years too old to

the details with any great degree of accuracy.

all

have taken a heavy

toll

among

The

last

remember

ten years in particular

the original key employees.

documented materials was also a severe stumbling block. The

pottery seems to have kept few records of the items produced there, of the
method of manufacture, the processes of decoration, the volume of each type of
ware produced, the dates when each series was originated and discontinued,
and the reasons why. Records of this kind were kept originally, but in the various

The

lack of

modernization

and expansion programs over the

years,

these

records

were

destroyed. Practically none are available today from Buffalo China, the successors

from surviving employees. Sales catalogs and brochures

do exist cover only a small proportion of the products manufactured in earlier years. Apparently, nostalgia went
out of fashion when mass production became the watchword. (For the last
twenty-five years, almost the entire pottery output has been mass-produced wares
that cannot be considered collectible. ) The best indication of what was made
at the pottery in the old days is probably to be found in the premium catalogs
published by the Larkin Company but even these do not show everything.
A large part of the information given in this book was accumulated by exhausting legwork. In the more than three years spent on research, we traveled countless
miles and interviewed over two hundred people, not only employees of the
company but also surviving relatives of employees and anyone who had been
even remotely connected with the pottery. Some of our scheduled interviews
failed to materialize for sad reasons. For example, we were planning a trip to
Florida in May, 1967, to talk to the widow of Ralph Stuart, head artist at the
pottery for many years, when we received word that Mrs. Stuart had passed away
suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of eighty-four. She herself had also been
an employee of the pottery at one time one of the best Deldare decorators. Her
maiden name, Anna Delaney, can be found on many pieces of Deldare. She had
met her husband while they were both working at the pottery. Fortunately, we
to Buffalo Pottery, or

are also practically nonexistent, and those that

had previously talked

we

mation, but

now

to Mrs. Stuart

by phone, and she had given us some

are sure that with her death

many

facts

infor-

about the pottery are

lost forever.

As a general rule, most of the people we talked to were cooperative, freely

giving us whatever information they possessed. A few, however, were adamant
in refusing us aid. Their attitude was understandable. The incidence of silicosis
among the employees, caused by the high content of clay dust in the air at the
plant, resulted in many deaths. The survivors of some of these employees thus
have unhappy memories of the pottery, and were hesitant to discuss it. We did
not press them. Other employees refused to give information for various reasons.
Hence, we are the more deeply indebted to those who were cooperative and
provided us with enough information so that we could complete this book.
Besides bringing to the public a sorely needed reference source, it has been
our aim in preparing this book to acquaint collectors, dealers, and historians with
both the variety and beauty of the wares manufactured at the Buffalo Pottery.
Many people do not know that the factory produced other items besides the
Deldare for which it is so famous. While we were collecting specimens (mostly
Deldare), we were repeatedly amazed at the diversification of the wares that
turned up. Almost every time we set out on a search, we came up with something

we

did not

know

existed.

Another of our aims was

to perpetuate the

of the Buffalo Pottery in the

memory

of the Larkin

permanent annals of the

industrial institutions are a part of the city's heritage.

Chamber

of

Commerce

is

"Boost Buffalo," and

Company and

city of Buffalo.

The motto

we hope

These two

of the Buffalo

our book will serve to

that end.

the hard work that went into the compilation of the book, we
honesty that the task was not without its happy moments and its
satisfactions. Though we do not profess any literary talents, we have tried to the
best of our abilities to make the book informative, interesting, complete, and
In spite of

can say in

all

all

historically accurate.

We

earnestly

hope the reader

will find

it

has

all

those

qualities.

Vi and

Si

Altman

10

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

1.

of

John D. Larkin, 1845-1926. Courtesy

Harry H. Larkin, Jr.

The

Larkin

Company

A BAR OF COMMON LAUNDRY

SOAP USUALLY CONTAINS A NUMBER OF RELATIVELY

Home Soap had greater significance than most such simple combinations of chemicals: it was the product
responsible for the birth of one of the foremost potteries in the United States.
John Durrant Larkin (111. 1), the son of English immigrants, was born in
Buffalo, New York, on September 29, 1845. His parents, Levi Henry Larkin and

ordinary ingredients, but Larkin Company's Sweet

When John was seven years old,

were left fatherless. John continued to go to
school (Public School 10) until he was twelve, but then it became necessary
for him to help support the family. His first job was as a messenger boy for
Western Union Telegraph Company; later, he clerked in a wholesale millinery
Mary Durrant, had come

he and

his six brothers

to this

and

country in 1832.

sisters

store.
It was not until John Larkin was sixteen ( 1861 ) that he was initiated into the
manufacturing of soap. At that time he went to work for a man named Justus

Weller,

who

operated a local factory. In 1870, Weller sold his Buffalo plant

and moved to Chicago with the intention

John went along. By 1871, he had become
he continued

his association

of establishing a soap factory there.

a partner in the

new

enterprise,

and

with Weller until 1875.

in Illinois, John met and married Hannah Frances

Hubbard. She too had been born in Buffalo, when her father, Dr. Silas Hubbard,
was a practicing physician there. But the Hubbards had later moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and it was there that their second child, a son named Elbert, had
been born in 1856.
Young Larkin was anxious to establish a soap business of his own, and so in
1875 he sold his interest in the Weller firm and returned to Buffalo. Almost
immediately, he began the manufacture of soap in a small two-story building
at 199 Chicago Street (111. 2). The business was known as John D. Larkin Company. Its only product, called Sweet Home Soap, was a variety of yellow laundry
soap. This was marketed by peddlers who used handcarts to trundle their wares
along the streets of Buffalo. Larkin's soap was of good quality, and it was cheaper
than competitors' soaps, so it found a ready market both among merchants and

In 1874, while he was

still

with the general public. To

facilitate sales, the

Larkin

Company would,

at a

merchant's request, imprint the wrappers and the bars of soap with his name,
giving the public the impression that the soap was the merchant's own special
brand. Generous samples were distributed to acquaint potential customers with
the Larkin product.

From

having as associates men of

Coss joined him in 1875.
J.
They handled production in the new factory, and did a very thorough job of it
until 1909. He was also fortunate in having Elbert Hubbard, his brother-in-law,
the beginning, John Larkin

was fortunate

in

considerable business ability. William H. and Daniel

11

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

12
as his

first

salesman. Hubbard's genius for descriptive writing and sales promotion

in the advertising propaganda of the Larkin Company. It was

was evident

probably his talent for merchandismg, more than any other single factor, that
was responsible for the growth of the company, which was unusually rapid. By
1876, Larkin already had to seek larger quarters, and he had a new three-story

by 150 feet, built at 663 Seneca Street. Two years later, Hubbard
became a partner in the firm, and the name was changed to J. D. Larkin and
Company. At this time (1878), Darwin D. Martin entered the firm.
Not only had the capacity of the plant been expanded; new products were

plant, 50

soon added. In 1879, a washing

fluid called

Sweet

of that name. Boraxine, a soap powder, joined the

Home

followed the soap

With the marketing

of Boraxine, an innovation was introduced that started the company on the way
to fame: In each box of the soap powder a chromo picture was inserted as a
bonus or premium. Giving premiums was not a new practice providing coupons
that could be accumulated and exchanged for premiums was a widespread
merchandising custom. It was the inclusion of the premium directly in or with a
purchase that was the Larkin Company innovation. Henceforth, all new products
introduced by the company included a premium as a buying incentive.
In 1883 toilet soaps were added to the Larkin line. The best known of these
was Pure White, which retailed at twenty-five cents (for a twelve-cake box) and
had a handkerchief enclosed in each box. Pure White was soon being referred
to by the public as "handkerchief soap." In 1883, Ocean Bath Soap included a
bath towel as a premium. Another popular item was Creme Oatmeal Soap, which
was first sold to the trade by traveling salesmen, but shortly after was sold by
list

in 1881.

printed circulars mailed directly to merchants. In the Elegant Eighties, French

were the vogue, and that was what inspired Hubbard

names and

spellings

choose the

name "Creme Oatmeal."

It

was

L. F. Martin, oldest brother of

to

Darwin Martin, who gave Hubbard the

idea of packaging a three-cake box of toilet soap to retail at ten cents a box. Like

many good

ideas, this one was born of necessity. It was sometimes difficult to get
merchants to buy toilet soaps put up twelve cakes to a box. The dime was a
popular coin then, and when the idea of marketing a three-cake box of soap for
that price was proposed at a sales meeting, Hubbard at once saw its merits. He
submitted the plan to Larkin, and samples of a three-cake pack were quickly
made. The paper boxes were lined with lace paper, but the thin, unseasoned
cakes of soap were not wrapped. Merchants readily recognized the salability
of the new package, and large orders began pouring in from all parts of the
country. In fact, it was not long before Hubbard realized that sales could easily

be made by mail solicitation, without the aid of traveling salesmen. L. F. Martin's

bright idea proved so successful that, in time, he and the rest of the salesmen were
eliminated by the Larkin Company. This first Larkin mail-order business, it
should be pointed out, was with merchants rather than directly with the consumer.

The popularity

of

Creme Oatmeal Soap taxed the

To keep up with

story factory at 663 Seneca Street.

capacity of the

little

three-

the orders, both a day and

night shift of workers was required until an expansion was completed in 1885, a

new

building 64 by 100

feet, five stories high, that cost $12,000.

This structure

replaced the rear frame building and extended over a newly acquired adjoining

Pleased with their enlarged quarters and freedom from night-shift work, little
did the employees of that day realize that greater expansions would eventually
be necessary and that within twenty-five years the company would annually be

lot.

laundry soap and VA million bars of toilet soap.

was again used for a marketing experiment: the wrappers
were to be saved and eventually redeemed for premiums. To attract more
customers and make the accumulation of wrappers more appealing, the company
selling 175 million bars of yellow

In 1885, Boraxine

THE LARKIN COMPANY

realized that they

was

It

at

about

had

13

to increase the

number and

variety of

premiums

offered.

period that direct selling became of prime interest to the

this

organization the "Factory to Family" method of marketing.

The Larkin

was to sell directly to the consumer with no dealers at all,

wholesale or retail, and no traveling salesmen or brokers. They aimed to eliminate
the middleman completely, and sell important staples on a large scale entirely
to the consumer. Such a procedure would save "all cost that adds no value." The
profits that would have been realized by the middleman under the old method of
sales were henceforth to be transferred to the buyer in the form of premiums.
A customer who bought ten dollars' worth of soap at retail price would be entitled
to a premium of that value as well. Thus, for ten dollars, he would be receiving
idea

a twenty-dollar value.

Reaction to
sidered

it

theory of merchandising was immediate. Businessmen con-

this

and merchants refused

rash,

to

handle Larkin goods. The old heads

the soap business laughed at the plan because they were so certain

it

in

would not

work. Besides, they saw no good reason for giving the consumer merchandise he

was not paying

But the Larkin Company idea persisted and

for.

it

grew and

grew.

In the

summer

mind conceived an

of 1886, Hubbard's fertile

entirely

new

was known as a "Combination Box," which sold

for six dollars. It contained one hundred cakes of Sweet Home Soap, and, as
premiums, an assortment of other soaps and various products that would be
useful to the average consumer, who would be allowed thirty days in which
to pay the six dollars. The plan created such a problem in handling sales accounts

method

of merchandising. This

that they could not be kept in the usual bound ledgers, and a system using
index cards was introduced a card ledger. The Larking Company is credited with
being the first in the world to make such a ledger. Instead of destroying a card
after the account

was

paid,

Hubbard decided

the nucleus of a gigantic mailing

Following

is

list

of the

to save all the cards; they

became

list.

premiums included

in

each Combination Box:

6 silver-plated teaspoons
1 child's silver-plated

1 silver-plated

teaspoon

napkin ring

2 silver-plated single butter plates

1 silver-plated butter plate

3 bars Artistic Toilet Soap

3 bars Elite Toilet Soap
3 bars

Creme Oatmeal

Toilet

Soap

3 bars Ideal Toilet Soap

3 bars Ocean Bath Soap

3 bars Modjeska Toilet Soap

Company sold 94,000 Combination Boxes. Later, it was

be more economical to ship a ten-dollar Combination Box instead of the
six-dollar box, and so this amount became standard. Each ten-dollar box conIn 1889, the Larkin

found

to

tained the following:

100 cakes of Sweet

Home

Soap

11

boxes Boraxine

Modjeska Complexion Soap

Modjeska Perfume
box Ocean Bath Toilet Soap
box Creme Oatmeal Soap
box Elite Toilet Soap
English jar of Modjeska Cold Cream

1
1
1
1

bottle

14

The Larkin

catalog of 1903 devoted

showing customers the immense factory and the gigantic five-story
soap vats. Courtesy of Harry H. Lar3.

a full

page

to

kin, Jr.

Modjeska Tooth Powder

bottle

packet satchet powder

stick shaving

soap

The premium given with this Combination Box was either a Chautauqua desk
Chautauqua lamp, which also had a value of ten dollars. If cash was paid in
advance, some gift for the lady of the house would be included with the above.
or

were sent on a thirty-day trial basis, with the freight being prepaid.
was not satisfied with the contents, he could return the unopened
packages, and he need not pay for the packages he had used. Boxes ordered
around Christmas always contained extra presents, and were eagerly awaited by
the customer. Sometimes money was preferred to a premium, and in such cases
one dollar was given for each order, providing that five or more orders were
All boxes
If

the customer

sent simultaneously.

Combination Boxes,
century.

as such,

The Larkin order

still

disappeared

had

to

amount

in the first

decade of the twentieth

but the customer was

to ten dollars,

allowed to select any desired assortment of the products offered, as well as the

premium he preferred.
Another method devised

for selling

was the "Larkin Club." Ten housewives

could form a club, each one contributing a dollar monthly. This purchased one

Combination Box, and the women drew lots for the premium. In reality, the club
was a means of purchasing on the installment plan, although at this period

15

4.

Another page of the 1903 catalog

pictured the Larkin Pavilion at the Pan-

American Exposition of 1901, and some

of the rooms in that building that were
furnished with Larkin premiums. Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin, Jr.

was frowned upon. However, the club plan was tl^ heart of
and one of the biggest factors
in the success of the company.
The first large premium was the Chautauqua piano lamp, a tall brass kerosene
lamp with a silk shade. Next came a Chautaqua desk, then a Chautauqua chair;
following them, a Chautauqua stove. To inform customers of an enlarged choice
of premiums, the Larkin Company published their first catalogue on July 1, 1893.
Prior to this, individual flyers had been issued for each item, but thereafter
installment buying

the distribution of the Larkin mail-order business

the

company published

listed

catalogs

frequently.

The premium

catalog

of

1905

From 1909
(fall/winter, and spring summer) a million
three million messengers of home improve-

almost 900 varied items from which a customer could choose.

two catalogs were sent each year

and a half each time. To mail these
ment every year, along with the five million folders and letters broadcasting
the Larkin idea, and the vast parcel-post package mail, Uncle Sam maintained a
branch post office right in the Larkin plant. The daily order mail of Larkin
Company and its branches also poured in by the thousands to this post office,
giving evidence of the pleasure and satisfaction of dealing with Larkin. Little
wonder that the Larkin catalog was called "The Book of a Million Homes."
In February, 1892, the Larkin Soap Manufacturing Company was formed with
a capitalization of $500,000, an enormous sum for this period. John Larkin was
elected president, and Elbert Hubbard, secretary and treasurer. About a year

on,

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

16

Hubbard decided to retire from the Larkin

devote himself to more artistic pursuits. After trying college, a
job with a publishing company, and a European tour during which he came

later, just

past thirty-five years of age,

Company and

be a great admirer of William Morris, he returned

to

in 1895 set

up

a colony of artisans called

Aurora, not far from Buffalo.

aimed

The

The

to

western

Hubbard

craft,

York and

town

of East

colony, patterned on the philosophy of Morris,

at reviving old handicrafts, particularly those associated

bookbinding, leather

New

Roycrofters, in the

with printing,

metalworking and woodworking.

became known

remembered today perhaps for

which sold forty million copies. In his
own time, he achieved wide attention also as the publisher and editor (and
largely the writer) of two small magazines, the Philistine and the Fra, and of
Little Journeys, monthly pamphlets that eventually filled fourteen volumes.
Hubbard and his wife were lost when the Lusitania was torpedoed by a
German submarine in 1915.
his

also

A Message

as a writer, best

to Garcia, written in 1899,

Hubbard's resignation seemed to have little effect on the continued rapid

growth of the Larkin Company. Almost yearly, after 1877, there was further
expansion old buildings gave way to new ones, small ones to large ones; common brick and wood were replaced with fireproof construction until the available
floor space in the Larkin plant was of incredible extent. Little more than an
acre in 1885,

by

1904, fifty

had increased to over sixteen acres by 1901, over twenty-nine

by 1907, and more than sixty-four acres by 1914. Enormous shipit

from the Larkin Terminal Buildings, destined for all points of

the compass. As the company grew, branches and warehousing facilities (111. 7)
were built in Peoria, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago,
and Los Angeles, but the branch offices were short-lived. Improvements in trans-

ments

left daily

made them unnecessary.

Chamber of Commerce once stated in a publication that the local
plant of the Larkin Company was the world's largest manufactory of soaps
(111. 3), perfumes, toilet preparations, and pure food specialties. Whether this
statement was accurate, or somewhat biased in the interest of publicizing Buffalo,
portation and parcel-post services

The

Buffalo

but the immensity of the Larkin plant and operations seems

must have been among the largest of their kind at that time.
The employees numbered more than twenty-five hundred, and the company's
purchases of raw and manufactured materials must have been responsible for
the employment of thousands more.
In 1903, John D. Larkin recognized the desirability of consolidating all secretarial and administrative operations of the company under one roof. Frank
Lloyd Wright ( the controversial architect was at the time building homes for a
number of Larkin executives in Buffalo) was commissioned to draft plans for a
new building (111. 5). Since this was the first commercial structure Wright had
done, the commission represented both a challenge and an opportunity for him;
nonetheless, he insisted on having full power to execute the interior of the
building also the furniture, lighting equipment, decorations, and so on (111. 6).
The new Larkin Administration Building achieved wide fame not only in the
United States but also in Europe, where it was often pictured in books on architecture. It was one of the largest private office buildings in the world at that
time, and one of the best planned for efficiency as well. Its size can be gauged
from the fact that it provided working space for 1,800 clerks and typists and all
the company executives and their secretaries. Lighting and ventilation equipment,
restaurant facilities and rest rooms all were of the most modern design. To give
the staff still greater pleasure in their working conditions, John D. Larkin celebrated the firm's fiftieth anniversary in 1925 by installing a gigantic $90,000 pipe
is

difficult to decide,

to indicate that they

THE LARKIN COMPANY

mi"

in

17

Larkin Company Administration

Building designed by Frank Lloyd
Wright in 1904. Courtesy of Harry H.
5.

Larkin,

Jr.

view of Larkin Administrashowing some of the furnishings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin, Jr.
6.

Interior

tion Building

Larkin

7.

shown
of

8.

factories

Harry H. Larkin,

ings.

and

branches

in the catalog of 1914.

as

Courtesy

Jr.

cuspidor used in the Larkin buildIt

was made by Buffalo

Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin,

Jr.

Pottery.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

18

organ that would provide them with background music to work by. This was
one of the dozen largest organs in the United States at the time.
In 1967, during an interview with Harry H. Larkin, Jr., at the Larkin Warehouse ( the last remaining building of the Larkin complex then still owned by the
family), the authors had the privilege of examining some of the original office
chairs designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We were surprised at their stiff and
uncomfortable look, and downright amazed at the fortitude of any secretary
who could sit on such a chair for an entire workday. The Larkin Administration
Building fell under the wrecking ball in 1950. The warehouse that we visited,
along with the furniture that had been stored- there, was disposed of shortly
after our visit.
In the early years after the turn of the century, the general public was invited
to visit the Larkin

complex and see the various operations. The response was

King and Queen of Belgium, for instance-

gratifying, for titled foreigners the

were

as interested in inspecting the

Larkin setup as the average American. By

who had dealt with the

far the majority of the visitors, however, were people

Larkin

Company

upward

of 50,000 people

and profited by the Larkin idea. In 1908 alone,

from all over the world took the conducted tour through
the Larkin buildings. Everyone was made to feel welcome and at home, shown
everything they wanted to see and much that they had had no idea of seeing,
and also things that they were not likely to see in any other place. From "Infor years

spiration Point" in the Administration Building they

center of the whole

was given

To

mammoth

a souvenir

had

a glimpse of the nerve

establishment. At the end of the tour, each visitor

and a cordial

invitation to return.

the company's original soap product and

its

by-product, glycerin, Larkin

gradually added perfumes and pharmaceuticals until, by 1900, they were manufacturing

all

these products. In time, the

company became involved

in other quite

manufacturing enterprises. There was a good reason for this. First of

all, as mentioned earlier, the premium plan required a variety of products in quite
large quantities, and Larkin found it both convenient and profitable to produce
these articles for themselves. Second, since most mail-order customers desired
other goods besides soap and soap products, Larkin expanded in the directions
where the demand was the greatest that is, into the manufacture of various types

diversified

packaged foods such as coffee, tea, and extracts. By 1906, the company had
also begun to manufacture paints and varnishes, and then went into the making
of furniture. Added next to the list were textiles, including such garments as
house dresses, aprons, and children's clothes. Then came a bakery, to supply all
the bread, cake, and pastry sold in the company's retail stores.
In addition to all the manufacturing carried on in the Larkin plants, it was still
necessary to have outside factories produce certain items. A leather company
supplied Larkin with leather goods and shoes. A furniture company in Memphis,
Tennessee, near a source of lumber, produced furniture parts and sent them to
Buffalo for finishing. Bottles and other glass articles were made for Larkin by the
Greenburg Glass Company in Greenburg, Pennsylvania. Larkin was also associated with the Buffalo Garment Company, manufacturer of men's apparel.
Last but not least, in 1901 the Larkin Company founded the Buffalo Pottery
Company to produce dishes and other ceramic articles, both for premium use
and general sale. So it came about as stated at the beginning of this chapter-

of

developed as a result of a successful cake of laundry soap.

was once the Larkin Company no longer exists. All
that remains of the vast enterprise is the weathered inscription "Larkin Company" chiseled into the once-proud structures.
that

an

art pottery

Today

the Goliath that

The
The Larkin Company,
of pottery

and china

Buffalo Pottery

as already mentioned, required a considerable

to satisfy

its

premium

amount

needs. Merchandise of the quality

Larkin desired was expensive, and depending on an outside firm for prompt
delivery

had

its

hazards.

More than
own?

once, the idea crossed Larkin's mind:

why

not establish a pottery of his

Among

the china salesmen

who

called regularly at Larkin

Louis Bown, representing the Crescent Pottery of Trenton,

Company was one

Jersey. Bown

New

and Larkin had many conversations about the feasibility of setting up a pottery
in Buffalo, and at length Larkin took the first step applying for a charter. The
charter was issued on October 23, 1901. At the first stockholders' meeting, held
on October 28 of that year, John D. Larkin was elected president, a position he
held until his death in 1926, when his son John D. Larkin, Jr., succeeded him.
Charles Larkin was elected vice-president, D. D. Martin, secretary, and John
Larkin, Jr., treasurer. It was resolved "To authorize the President to contract for
and purchase, or lease, such lands as necessary to erect and equip such a plant
as in his judgment, the need of the company demands."
The Buffalo Pottery was capitalized at fifty thousand dollars. A site was purchased at the southeast corner of Seneca and Fillmore streets, but after due
consideration was abandoned as inadequate; later the Buffalo Leather Company
plant was erected there by Larkin. The search for land continued, and finally a
suitable site was bought a tract eight and a half acres in extent at Seneca Street
and Hayes Place. The location was ideal, the land bordering the tracks of the

Lackawanna railroads. Robert J. Reidpath, a local

was given a contract to lay out and design the buildings.
Ground was broken in the spring of 1902, and construction completed in 1903.
The firing of the first kiln took place in October, 1903.
Louis Bown quit his sales position with the New Jersey pottery to become
Buffalo Pottery's first general manager. Wanting experienced potters to get the
new facility off to a proper beginning, Bown brought with him from New Jersey
William J. Rea, who was made the first superintendent of production, and a
number of other craftsmen. Rea had started his ceramic career at the age of fourteen at the Mayer China Company in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He had also
managed a pottery in Tiffin, Ohio, before he became manager of the Trenton
Pennsylvania, Lehigh, and

structural engineer,

19

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

20

R*J

3b

-;*:

S? S3 PW r l?6^

General offices and factories of the Buffalo Pottery

marked "Buffalo China" were just completed that year.
9.

10.

An

early photograph of

some

of the

employees

*"-

-a"**

'jffj

in 1917.

The

in Buffalo Pottery's printshop.

kilns

on the right

Courtesy of Thomas Doncaster.

21

THE BUFFALO POTTERY

man had

good deal of practical knowledge of

ceramics, and he had long dreamed of designing and heading a pottery. Buffalo
Pottery was built under his direction and to his specifications.
Rea not only produced good pottery but endeavored constantly to raise its
quality, especially that of underglaze ware. It was through his endeavors that
the firm manufactured America's first Blue Willow. Rea retired on August 27,
1927, after twenty-four years' continuous service at Buffalo Pottery. Both he and
Bown eventually became directors of the company, and Bown became vicepresident. Rea died in 1942, at the age of seventy-eight.
Other knowledgeable and experienced employees were recruited from various
potteries throughout the country. Most such skilled help was paid on a piecework basis, and a conscientious worker could make an excellent wage. Hence, it
was not long before potters from many places were seeking employment at Buffalo Pottery. Soon there was a staff of about two hundred and fifty.
Of the employees who came from New Jersey with Bown at the start, there is
only one surviving at the time this is written. She is Mrs. Anna Kappler, who still
resides three blocks from the pottery. At eighty-seven, alert and well, she fondly
recalls the fifty-three pleasant years she spent with the firm, where she was
firm for ten years. This skilled

"foreman" of the printshop.

Among

came to the new pottery was Ralph Stuart,

He had been an employee of the Onondaga
Pottery Works in Syracuse, but a report of the high piecework rates paid by the
Buffalo firm seemed worth investigating. Hired in 1903, he brought with him a
a ceramic

the job seekers

artist of

who

early

the highest caliber.

rich heritage of ceramic experience: he, his father,

him had worked

at

some

and

his

grandfather before

of the leading potteries in the Staffordshire District of

England. Stuart himself is said to have worked at Wedgwood and also at the
Royal Doulton works. He was related to Gilbert Stuart, who painted the re-

nowned

George Washington. It was this portrait that was used on

the George Washington plate (111. 275).
Stuart advanced rapidly at Buffalo, eventually becoming head of the Art Department, overseeing printshop, lining, decals, and hand painting. In addition to
his duties at the pottery, he taught art and held painting classes at his home,
which were attended by many local residents. He was an avid fisherman, hunter,
and outdoorsman in his spare time, and it may have been this interest in wildlife
that led him to make the paintings of birds, animals, fish, and flowers that were
reproduced on many of the Buffalo wares.
Murals of Stuart's still remain today on the dining-room walls of the Arcade
Hotel, in Arcade, New York. Over the years, he gave hand-painted Buffalo Pottery
pieces of his own design to friends and fellow employees for such occasions as
weddings, showers, and similar happy events. While interviewing former employees of the pottery, the authors had the opportunity of examining a number of
these special pieces, and without exception found them outstanding in beautiful
detail and color leaving the impression that, had Stuart chosen to devote all his
energies to a career as a serious artist, his work might be hanging in museums
today. However, except for a tour of duty with the Canadian Army during World
War I, he carried on as chief of Buffalo Pottery decorators until 1942, when he
left to

The

portrait of

enter private business. Stuart died in 1945, at the age of sixty-eight.

eight original buildings on Hayes Place formed the largest fireproof pottery
world at that time. Substantially constructed of brick, steel, and concrete,
they provided some eight)' thousand square feet of floor space. Over four hundred
windows and skylights let in an abundance of light and fresh air. Buffalo was
then the only pottery in the world operated entirely by electricity; an adjoining
powerhouse supplied the power to light and heat all the buildings.
in the

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

22

Raw materials used by the pottery came not only from all over America but
from the Old World as well. Careful attention was given to every detail of handling these materials that might contribute to economy of production and make
it possible to turn out quality ware at minimum cost. For example, clays from
such widespread sources as North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Great Britain, and likewise silica, feldspar,
borax, kaolin, whiting, leads, oxide of cobalt, and numerous other ingredients,
were handled only when they were loaded at the point of shipment or the port
of arrival in this country. At the Buffalo plant they were unloaded directly into
bins provided for them, in keeping with the idea that from the time a material
started on the journey from its source, until it became part of a dainty bit of tableware ready for use in the home, there was not to be a wasted motion.
From the receiving bins, clay and other ingredients moved to the scales on
which the proper proportions were weighed out. Then the mass was conveyed
by carrier to large vats, where water was added. An energetic plunger played
havoc with the lumps, converting the stiff clay into what is known as "slip." In
consistency and color, as it streamed from the mixing vats, this looked a good
deal like cream. Next the slip passed to the "lawn," as the potters called it; laymen would be more likely to refer to it as a sieve, for its duties were like those
of a sieve. The lawn was silk bolting cloth with 15,000 meshes to the square inch,
stretched on a frame. Every bit of clay used in the pottery first passed, in the
form of slip, through these fine silken meshes.
From

which a constantly revolving

mass in suspension, until it could be
pumped into the filter, or "clay press." Between the iron leaves of the clay press
were double thicknesses of army duck cloth. When the slip reached this fabric,
the water filtered through the cloth, and dropped, clean and colorless, into pans,
which emptied into a well whence the water was pumped up to be used again
in the mixing vats. The clay was left impressed between the sheets of duck cloth
in moist square cakes about an inch and a half thick. When the press was
opened, these dropped to a truck and were wheeled to the next stopping place,
the clay cellar. Here, the clay mellowed. To be left in the cellar a year would
help it a great deal; to remain there a hundred years would have helped it still
more. After a reasonably thorough mellowing, the clay went into the pug mill
in "junks" cut out by a shovel from the supply in the cellar. In the mill it was so
cut and pressed and kneaded that when it emerged at the bottom, it was somewhat suggestive of a huge sausage in appearance. Actually, it had become a soft,
unctuous paste ready for the potters' deft manipulations, ready to be given a form.
A portion of clay, enough to make a vessel or object, could readily be detached
and placed over or in a mold, according to the shape of the piece desired. This
use of a mold to give shape to the clay was in direct contrast to the old method
of throwing and turning a piece on the wheel, in which it was the fingers and
hands of the potter that gave a vessel its rough shape as it was whirled about.
After such a rough shape had hardened sufficiently, it would be placed on the
wheel again, and the potter would use hand tools to give it its final form as it
the lawn, the clay flowed into a reservoir in

agitator kept the ingredients of the liquid

was being turned on the wheel. By

molds had come

1903, however,

into use for

turning out ceramic pieces commercially, in one operation. These were

plaster of Paris,

which

gypsum

stone from

Nova

a sufficiently fine plaster could

The designer

tically identical to those

he wanted.

From

Vessels could be

be produced for

had

set

about

his,

used generations before.

this clay

this

in

much

the

same way

using a potter's wheel prac-

He

model he made a plaster

made from

of

this particular use.

work

or modeler of a piece began his

that the potter of the old days

made

Scotia being about the only kind from

designed

cast,

mold, but to make them

in clay the vessel

which served

as a mold.

quantity

was neces-

in

it

THE BUFFALO POTTERY

sary to have

could be

many

more than one mold

made from

plaster

23

of the

the clay model.

molds could be obtained

molds and turn out vessel

same

plaster

design. However, only one mold

model was needed from which as

One potter could handle many

molds were whirled about on the

as required.

after vessel, as the

mechanism known as a "jigger," the modern potter's wheel.

was operated by electric power. It consisted of a base that whirled,
as did the old-time whirler that was part of the potter's wheel, but this one
whirled with marvelous speed. (The old-time wheel operated by hand or foot
power moved much more slowly. ) The jigger was equipped with a "pull-down,"
an upright iron rod to which was attached a shaping tool set to give the exact
thickness desired. The potter seized this rod and pulled it down, bringing the
tool into the clay and holding it stationary. As the whirler carried the mold
about, the clay pressed between the mold and the tool rapidly took shape.
The filled mold was passed into the stove room where, under slight heat, the
porous plaster of the mold absorbed moisture from the clay, and the new vessel
shrank away from the mold. Removed from the mold, it was given to the "finisher," who smoothed the rough edges and supplied handle, spout, or whatever
was required. The new piece was then sent to the "green room," where articles
waited to go into the "biscuit' kilns or were left to dry out.
swiftly revolving

11.

A worker

the molds.

jigger

removing ware from

12.

An

early

photograph

of

potter smoothing pieces after the

firing.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

24

Some pieces could not be put on a jigger but had to be placed on whirlers
operated by hand; the clay was then pressed to the mold by means of hand-held
tools, as of old.

Under

this

heading came oval dishes, covered dishes, dishes with

a footed base, and other departures from regular straight shapes. Another class

ware that did not go

and
had not gone through the clay
press was poured into a mold. Enough of the slip would adhere to the sides of
the mold to form the vessel or piece. Rough edges were smoothed off, and then
of hollow

to the jigger included chocolate pots, vases,

teapot spouts. These were "cast" that

is,

slip that

the piece passed on to the green room.

There were

Four of these were biscuit, or

were decorating kilns. The decorating kilns

fifteen kilns in the Buffalo Pottery.

bisque, kilns; five were "glost,"

and

six

they looked like vaults were "muffled" kilns; that is, the kiln proper, or oven, in
which the ware was placed for firing on the decorations was built wholly within
a firebox. There was open space between the kiln and the firebox, and when the

14.

Workers balance on

their

heads the loaded

saggers that must be stacked in the kiln for

13.

Early kilns at Buffalo Pottery were

coal-fired.

to see

if

Man

at

the ware

15.

upper
is

left is

checking

ready.

the last load of ware,

Putting in

before the kiln

is

sealed and fired.

firing.

17.
While being fired in the glaze kilns, plates are
supported on three points. Afterward, a corps of workers chipped away the three rough spots left by the points.

16.

men

stacking the sag-

view of work-

gers in a kiln.

was built underneath the kiln, the heat could pass around it on all sides.
The bisque and glost kilns were huge round giants (111. 16), their conelike

fire

tops protruding above the roof of the pottery. These kilns consisted of an outside

and cement with a

shell of red brick

had ten

and fireclay. Each kiln

and from each hole a flue ran

lining of firebrick

holes around the sides of the interior,

fire

was evenly distributed. The kilns

had to be shoveled in by hand.
a kiln were unknown at that time. Instead, to gauge the tem-

to a center hole in the floor, so that the heat

were

by coal

fired

that

Thermostats for

perature, the fireman peered through small holes at various points in the kiln

walls

and observed the condition

cones were
that they

made

would melt and droop

point just bent

its

kilns

(111.

and

clay, of

at different temperatures.

head, the fireman

stop shoveling on coal

The

of heat cones positioned in groups of four.

of varying proportions of feldspar

knew

that then

and not

These

such consistencies

When

the last

until then

little

he could

13).

could accommodate thousands of pieces of ware at one time, the

bisque kilns burning the clay into ware of the whitest bisque form, the glaze kilns

ready to be fiied were put in what were known

earthenware receptacles. (They were made in a special
department at Buffalo Pottery.) The saggers were piled in the kiln, one on the
other, and the crevices between them sealed with wieners of clay so that no gases,

fixing the glaze, or glost. Pieces

as "saggers," large coarse

any kind could

walk up the steep ladders

impurities, or dirt of

on

find

way

into a sagger. It

was

a trick of the

in the kilns balancing saggers, unsupported,

heads (111. 14) all the way to the very topmost row. Once a kiln was
with saggers (there were some 1,800 in a firing), the fires w ere started.

potters to
their

filled

When ware

from the green room was taken to the bisque kiln, it was creamit had been baked for fifty hours at a temperature
ranging from 2300 to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit, it emerged pure white in color,
hard, and bisquelike. Each piece was then brushed and sandpapered, to make it
ready for the next step. Before that step is described, however, a few words
should be said about underglaze and overglaze.
colored and very fragile. After

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

26

Underglaze ware is that on which decorations are applied before the glaze is
put on. Because of the intense heat necessary to fix the glaze, decoration requiring the

more delicate colors was usually put on later over the glaze and then
was refired at a comparatively mild heat to fix or set the colors. Ware

the piece

so decorated

is

known

as overglaze ware;

it

often boasts especially beautiful

artistic effects.

In overglaze ware, Buffalo Pottery equaled

excelled many, but

it

was

was

to the

all other American potters and

development of a superior underglaze ware that

came into that field, with

one or two exceptions underglaze ware had never been successfully produced in
this country. In almost every instance, American-made underglaze pieces were
far inferior to English ones, which were sold here in large quantities. But Buffalo developed underglaze decoration so fine that most imported underglaze ware
special attention

suffered

directed. Until Buffalo Pottery

by comparison. The

firm's expert designers

made

stood high in the estimation

own

underglaze colors, and its

Designing Department was so well equipped that it could produce colors and
designs never attempted before in an American pottery. Underglaze decorations
of the industry.

Buffalo Pottery

all

its

have the advantage of being protected by the glaze and therefore of not wearing off or being easily damaged.
Ware that was to receive underglaze decoration went directly to the Decorating Department after having emerged from the bisque kiln and been given its
brushing and sandpapering. A specially prepared tissue was passed between the
copper cylinders of an electric printing machine to be impressed with the design
to be used. The imprinted tissue was pressed onto a piece of the ware and rubbed

would leave behind its sticky ink design. Then

the tissue was washed off with soap and water, only the inked design remaining
on the piece, which might then be taken to another room to have the coloring
done by hand, or lines put on, or a decorative border applied. Or perhaps the
piece would be immediately glazed and baked, and additional decoration (if
any) added over the glaze.
Design could also be transferred to the unglazed pieces by decalcomania, or
the decal process. Pieces so decorated were put first into a kiln for a short time,
to dry out the oil of the decal. Then they were dipped in tubs of glaze, to coat
them with that preparation, and put into glost kilns at a temperature of 2200
vigorously with a brush so that

it

degrees Fahrenheit for twenty-four hours to harden the glaze.

When

cool, they

were ready for shipment.

18.

The

simple

line

liner

puts

decoration

on a piece, turning the

wheel by hand and applying the color with a
brush.

THE BUFFALO POTTERY

Ware

27

destined to receive overglaze decoration went from the bisque kilns

directly to the glaze tubs

and shiny, ready

and then the

from which

glost kilns,

it

emerged white

Overglaze decorators also used various methods:

decalcomania, printing the outlines and filling them in by hand, tinting with
for decoration.

and various gold treatments, and hand painting. When the decoration
were fired in the decorating kilns at a temperature of
about 1300 degrees. Thence they too went to the ware room, at the extreme end
of the building next to the railroad siding, where all finished pieces were packed

colors

was

finished, the pieces

for shipment.

The production process was a continuous one, with a minimum of lost motion.
Although the equipment at Buffalo Pottery was designed for maximum efficiency,
probably the most important contributing factor was the skill and experience of
the management and the artisans. All their energy and knowledge were directed
toward turning out a semivitreous porcelain that was exclusive in design and
was much superior

pattern. Its quality

petitors,

and

Among

it

the

was

first

less

wares produced by com-

new
named for

semivitreous pieces turned out by the

hundred-piece dinner

famous Polish

to that of the

expensive.

the internationally
Modjeska pattern,
These were given free by the Larkin Company with a

sets in the

actress.

pottery were one-

A one-hundred-piece Lamare dinner set

was given with a sixteen-dollar purchase. Also produced were the fifty-six-piece
Modjeska tea set, the fifty-one-piece Modjeska cottage set (a service for six),
the sixty-nine-piece Lamare cottage set, and the fifty-six-piece Lamare tea set.
A Cairo toilet set consisting of washbowl, pitcher, and ten other pieces was given
free with a ten-dollar purchase. The body of this was white, decorated with a
cluster of June roses in pink and yellow, with natural green leaves and stems,
against a background of brown. The handles and edges were traced in gold.
The lustrous glaze finish was guaranteed by the company not to craze.
Advertised as special items at this time were a poppy-decorated chocolate pot
and a cracker jar, and a three-piece oatmeal set embellished with roses, lilacs,
forget-me-nots, and gold trim. Other special items were a salad bowl decorated
with roses and embossed work trimmed in gold and a Canton blue underglaze
water pitcher that held three pints. Game, fowl, and fish sets, each consisting of
six round plates and an oval platter, were made at this time too. These were
produced in both underglaze and overglaze ware. Offered also were a set of six
9-inch historical plates and another ten-piece toilet set in the chrysanthemum
pattern with a large cuspidor to match. In addition, there was a series of Doultonshaped historical and commemorative pitchers and a twenty-two-piece child's tea
set in green underglaze decoration. All these were fine pieces, artistic and guaranteed by the pottery not to craze, f
twenty-dollar purchase of soap products.

In subsequent years Buffalo Pottery was destined to initiate the manufacture

of

innumerable

The

china

fine designs, patterns,

early full-size kilns

made

in the early

were capable of

and wares. Almost without exception, these

firing

only semivitreous ware.

days were probably fired in a small

kiln,

The few

pieces of bone

perhaps one used largely for

experimental or testing purposes. At that time, the terms "semivitreous" and "semiporcelain"

were frequently used interchangeably; both referred

to

soft-paste,

porous material. The

longer phrase "semivitreous porcelain" had the same meaning.

Pieces

made by

Buffalo Pottery are sometimes found today with various degrees of crazing
which could have resulted from any one of several causes, such as putting plates
of food in the oven to keep warm. In general, slight crazing does not seriously detract from the
value of a piece; of course, crazing so severe as to have permitted discoloration to take place
under the glaze is quite another matterwhether it is found on a piece of Buffalo pottery,
Staffordshire, or any other ceramic ware.
t

of the glaze,

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

28

now
who have

products are

sought by antique dealers and collectors, and treasured by

families

sentimentally and affectionately kept

them

a generation

and

more.

Although most Buffalo wares were manufactured with the Larkin Company in
mind, in time they were distributed in wholesale and retail outlets through the

had selling agencies in New York, Chicago, and

was exporting to twenty-seven countries. The first offering of Buffalo Pottery appeared in the Larkin Company catalog of 1904, which
explained that whereas it had long been the custom among American potters to
"sell seconds for use as premiums," the Larkin Company could "now offer crockery made by Buffalo Pottery, which is of First Quality." ( Before Buffalo Pottery
was founded, Larkin had imported first-quality Limoges, Dresden, and some
English Blue Willow for use as premiums.
country.
St.

By

Louis,

1908, Buffalo Pottery

and by 1911

it

Early Buffalo Pottery pieces can

today.

They can

be found

still

in all parts of the

readily be identified, since most of

them are

dated, bearing the Buffalo Pottery stamp on the bottom.

United States
marked and

clearly

From

the beginning, the

pottery had the foresight to date almost

all the pieces produced, and it continued

complete mechanization entered the picture in the 1940's.
In 1905, an underglaze Blue Willow was produced that was far superior in

this policy until

and body to the imported ware. Buffalo was the first pottery in
America to succeed in producing a Blue Willow that not only duplicated but
even improved on the underglaze colors of the imported product, and so they
were completely justified in claiming to be the "originators of old blue willow
in the United States." It was at this time also that a series of advertising and commemorative plates was introduced. These were special orders from business firms,
clubs, institutions, and civil organizations.
In 1908, seeking to produce an artistic "quality" product that would compete
with and perhaps be superior to the prestige pottery imported from England
at that time, Buffalo Pottery turned to the production of Deldare Ware. Today,
this ware is among the scarcest and most eagerly sought of all Buffalo Pottery
color, glaze,

products.

It

commands an extremely high

price.

In 1911 and 1912, Buffalo Pottery turned to the manufacture of Abino

and Emerald Deldare

as well as a host of other products, all of

which

Ware

will

be

discussed in detail in later chapters of this book.

The change from semivitreous ware to vitrified china occurred in the year 1915.
Buffalo Pottery was one of only twelve potteries in the United States where
vitreous china was made; over a hundred potteries made semiporcelain, a
coarser ware. Thereafter, all pieces of vitrified china manufactured by Buffalo
Pottery were stamped "Buffalo China"

However, some pieces

still

It

carried the Buffalo Pottery

mark

(111.

19)

instead of "Buffalo Pottery."

ware continued

of semivitreous

(111.

to

be made, and these

20).

should be noted here that collectors are mistaken to rate pieces marked

marked "Buffalo China." Some of the

finest and most artistic work was done on items marked "Buffalo China." The
George Washington plate of 1932 is a good example ( 111. 275 )
Two years after Buffalo Pottery started making vitrified china, it became
apparent that the original facilities were no longer adequate. An enlargement
was made consisting of three new buildings with 60,000 square feet of space,
two new bisque kilns, and two new glost kilns. This addition gave the pottery
"Buffalo Pottery" so

much above

those

a total of 140,000 square feet of working area.

When

the United States entered

World War

I,

the military services ordered

Larkin Company's
1918-1919 fall/winter catalog printed the following announcement, which tells

increasingly large amounts

of

Buffalo pottery and china.

something of the role the pottery played

pertinent information:

in

the

war

effort,

and gives other

THE BUFFALO POTTERY

29

All Buffalo Pottehy Ware WithdrawnGovernment Needs Output

For more than three years the Buffalo Pottery has been producing
china of which an example

Larkin Product.

Some

is

the China Butter

Tub and

vitrified

Drainer, offered as a

now equipped

of America's finest deluxe hotels are

with

Buffalo Pottery China; 80 American merchant ships are being equipped.

BUFFALO POTTERY CHINA

IN

U.S.

SERVICE

From our entrance into the war, the army and navy have made rapidly increasdemands for Buffalo Pottery China and the war demands of the U.S. Army,
Navy, and Hospital service now call for china in unprecedented quantities. Each
of the hundreds of the merchant ships now being launched to sail under the
American flag will carry real china for its tables. The elimination of semi-porcelain,
ing

formerly offered in our catalog, at least for the term of the war, will expedite
greatly the production of vitrified china for

government

use.

ORDERS FILLED WHILE STOCK LASTS

We

will

however,

orders for Buffalo Pottery tea, dinner,

fill

last catalog
it

and

toilet sets offered in

our

(No. 79) as long as conditions will permit. To avert disappointment,

will be best to order as soon as possible. When we become obliged to

decline orders for this ware you

may have

the satisfaction of

knowing

that the

Buffalo Pottery which for fifteen years has been satisfactorily serving Larkin

customers (for which purpose

by furnishing

it

was

built)

is

now devoted

to

helping win the war,

for our soldiers china dishes of a recognized unexcelled quality.

When

normal production was resumed at the war's end, a line of dinnerware

to be used for premiums as well as sold directly to the public
through wholesale and retail outlets. The pottery turned at this time to a much

was made again

19.

Some

of the trademarks used

by Buffalo Pottery on

their vitrified ware.

PLAIN BODIES
White - Ivory - Lune - Rouge - Colorido

A0*uufm

LAMELLE COMBINATIONS
(Ivory Center)

Colorido - Lune - Rouge

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

30

and thinner china than they had ever made before. The patterns were
and Pink Rose. As part of the effort to regain
its prestige, in 1923 the company also went back to producing its highest art
line, Deldare Ware. This they continued to turn out until 1925, when high
production costs brought the price beyond the average man's means. Thereafter
it was discontinued.
finer

called Dresden, Glendale, Blue Bird,

An

examination of the annual Larkin catalogs indicates that Deldare Ware

was offered only once as a premium in the fall/winter catalog of 1922-1923.

That catalog also represented the last time that Buffalo Pottery ware was mentioned as a premium. In the later twenties and in the thirties, the Larkin Company turned almost exclusively to imported china, which was cheaper than
producing their own, and Buffalo Pottery turned to the manufacture of exclusive hotel and institutional ware.
Realizing that color was rapidly permeating the entire food industry, the
pottery management knew there would soon be a demand for hotel china with
solid body color, and they saw to it that experimenting was begun to develop
satisfactory body co'ors. The advantage of dinnerware that is so colored is
greater depth and uniformity of color than is possessed by that with color
applied only to the surface; and when a solid-body article is chipped, it shows

same color throughout. By

had led to
Ye Olde Ivory, which was ivory
color; Lune Ware, which was blue; Rouge Ware, which was pink; Colorido Ware,
which was yellow; and Cafe-au-Lait, which was a deep tan. This new line was
the

1928, Buffalo's laboratory research

the development of the following color line:

use singly or in combinations

(111.

19).

In 1931, after a great deal of experimentation in the laboratory and factory,

Buffalo Pottery perfected a china with an inlaid center of clay, on which

it

secured a United States Patent. They called this "Lamelle," from the French for

The

was used in combination with their colored bodies,

ware and greatly reducing breakage.
Buffalo Pottery was uniquely equipped to produce custom-made hotel ware
because of its large and imaginative Art Department. In the following years they
produced outstanding, individually designed china for leading hotels, restaurants,
railroads, steamship lines, airlines, and other institutions both here and abroad.
Although this individualized commercial ware was an artistic success, by the
forties it was clear that consolidating the commercial line would be more profitable financially. The company therefore gave up the practice of custom-designing
ware, and instead mass-produced a limited number of designs that would be
lamination.

inlaid center

actually reinforcing the

acceptable to

Some

many

customers.

development in 1936, in fact illness had forced Louis

and general manager. His son William, a sales
executive, was appointed to succeed him as general manager.
In 1938, the pottery had the fortunate opportunity to hire Robert E. Gould,
a man of wide experience in the ceramic industry. A graduate of Ohio State
University, Gould had worked for two years as assistant ceramic engineer for R.
Thomas Sons Company of Lisbon, Ohio, and for a similar period as chief ceramic
engineer for Taylor, Smith & Taylor Company of Chester, West Virginia. In
1929, he had gone to Katowtz, Poland, as general manager of Giesche Porcelain
Company, where he remained until 1935, when he returned to the States to
become chief ceramic engineer for the Tennessee Valley Authority at Norris,

Bown

years before this

to resign as vice-president

Tennessee.

He

left that

position to join Buffalo Pottery as vice-president, general

manager, and a director. ( William Bown returned to the Sales Department of the
company, where he remained until he resigned in 1941.)
In 1940, it was decided to reorganize Buffalo Pottery. At that time the company
name was changed to Buffalo Pottery Incorporated. In 1946, Robert E. Gould was

31

Buffalo Pottery trademarks.

20.

ITtf f/

B.

<

NIAGARA FALLS

BUFFALO POTTERY

19

0".'

No. 1319.

fc
*,.

>urflta
f

P.

FALO

>^

POTf ER

1908

"
<

BUFFALO

MADE AT
111/

19

BUFFALO
POTTERY

09

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DELDAPt WARE
UNDERGLA7F

?
2*

S.

/#*/

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,3

tiMLo

EMERALD

DELDARE
WARE.
UNDERGIAZE

'

fa

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

32

elected president of the company, a position he held until his retirement in 1964,

when Harold M.

was elected to succeed him.

Early in his tenure, Gould realized the need for greater production and consolidation of the Buffalo line, and he began a gradual revamping and modernizing
of the plant that included installing the latest in equipment and kilns. Four
buildings that were not needed were sold, and the original powerhouse was
abandoned; power was purchased from the local utilities. Goulds modernization
program eventually resulted in making Buffalo Pottery one of the most efficient
and completely automated potteries in the United States.
During World War II, like so many firms, Buffalo Pottery turned its energies
into war production. Untold thousands of pieces of decorated ware were made for
the

Armed

Esty,

Jr.,

Forces.

name was once again altered. Recognizing that "Buffalo

company with its product, the board
voted that the corporate title be made "Buffalo China, Inc."

In 1956, the firm

Pottery" no longer properly identified the

of directors

Among

the artistic accomplishments of Mr. Gould's quarter century as head

of Buffalo

they had

was the

first

reissuing of the

copy of the "Barberini-Portland Vase" that

turned out in 1925. This 1946 reissue, also in blue and white, was

done by the Lamelle process. He also introduced a series of annual Christmas

(they were made from 1950 to 1962), in the hope that they would
become as popular collectibles as the famous Danish Christmas plates.
Today, Buffalo China, Inc., is mass-producing hotel and institutional ware as
plates

fast as

production lines will permit. The company has the reputation of being the

third largest in this field in the United States.

Esty,

who

has been an employee of the

company

Its

present president, Harold

for thirty years,

is

a grandson

John D. Larkin.
At the time this book went to press, the Carborundum Company of Niagara Falls,
New York, had taken an option on purchasing all the stock of Buffalo China, Inc.
of the founder,

Blue Willow and

Gaudy Willow
The quality of the semiporcelain blue willow produced by buffalo pottery
was undoubtedly as good as and perhaps superior to that of much of the Blue
Willow manufactured by English
This pattern with

potteries,

with their generations of experience.

quaint shapes, stylized decorative devices, and rich blue

its

off has as strong an appeal today as it has had

no denying the fact that it has been one of the most
popular tableware patterns ever made.
Before 1905, American potters had found it impossible to duplicate the rich
underglaze cobalt blues and the shadowy blue-whites that distinguished the
finest of Blue Willow made elsewhere. In 1905, however, after extensive experimentation, Buffalo Pottery introduced an underglaze Blue Willow that was
superior in color, body, and glaze to imported Blue Willow. The firm justly
merited the title that it claimed for itself: "The Originators of Semi-Porcelain
Blue Willow Pottery in the United States." Their pride in their accomplishment
was further indicated by the words (111. 23) that were put on the bottom of
each piece of Blue Willow dated 1905: "First Old Willow Ware Manufactured

underglaze color that cannot wear

for generations.

There

is

in America."

Though

the Blue

one made up

to

Willow "legend"

account for

all

is

reputed to be not a true legend, but only

the various Chinese motifs used in the pattern,

many people have

considered the tale a charming one, and

again and again.

Its

Company,

Inc.

made

it

has been repeated

popularity was such that in the early days the Edison

a motion picture of

it.

This opened with the projection onto

huge Blue Willow pattern dish. The center of the dish

faded out, leaving only the border, which thereafter served to frame the scenes
of the story as they unfolded. Another evidence of the popularity of the Blue
Willow legend was the fact that at one time the drop curtains of both the Theatre
Royal in Greenock, Scotland, and London's Drury Lane pictured a large Blue
the screen of a picture of a

Willow plate.
According to a Buffalo Pottery leaflet, Blue Willow was mentioned in the
original Dr. Syntax verses the good doctor reminiscing of afternoons long
before when he and Cousin Jane drank tea from Old Blue Willow cups on which
a youth and maiden stepped lightly over the bridge of love.
33

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

34

In addition to the conventional Blue Willow that Buffalo Pottery so successfully

produced over the years and is still making today on vitrified china, the year
1905 saw the firm produce the pattern in hand-decorated colors (111. 28). This
hand-decorated type has come to be known by collectors as Gaudy Willow. The
design is basically the same as on Blue Willow, but a variety of colors are used in
the decoration, both over and under the glaze rust, deep blues, greens, browns,
and pure coin gold. Hand-decorated Willow took a great deal longer to produce
than the conventional Blue Willow. Consequently, less of it was made, and so
today Gaudy Willow is very scarce and also in great demand. Collectors are willing to pay premium prices for it. As far as is known, Buffalo Pottery was the only
company ever to produce Gaudy Willow in America. The firm also produced
the Willow pattern in a very limited amount in a brown color.
Blue Willow marked "Buffalo Pottery" is more desirable as a collectible than
that marked "Buffalo China," and collectors are willing to pay more for the
earlier

pieces the earlier the piece, the higher the price providing the condition

Old Willow Ware Manufactured in America" are probably worth the most. However, in general, Blue
Willow articles usually sell for more reasonable prices than most other Buffalo
Pottery pieces, and so they make a fine specialty for a beginning collector or one
on a limited budget.
The Willow "legend" has been printed and reprinted countless times; the
version given here is that which appeared in an early booklet put out by Buffalo
Pottery. Knowing it will add to any collector's enjoyment of his Blue Willow
is

equally

fine.

Pieces dated 1905 and

marked

"First

pieces

The Legend of Blue Willow Ware

Once upon a time there was a rich old Mandarin who had an only daughter
named Li-Chi. She and her father lived in a beautiful home, two stories in height,
a rare thing in China.
If

you look

Willow pattern

at a

plate,

you

will see that not only

is

the house a

two-storied one, but there are outbuildings (to the right) at the back, and large
trees, of a rare

and

costly kind, surrounding

it,

showing that the owner was a

man

of great wealth.

Li-Chi was a very pretty

dressed in the

girl,

and

softest, brightest silks

Her favorite dresses were

you could have seen her

as her father

was

a rich

man, she was always

money could buy.

embroidered with silver, and

on her balcony on a moonlight night, with
flowers entwined in her hair, and the shimmering peach-colored silk falling in soft
folds about her feet, you would have thought her worthy to marry a prince. But
Li-Chi did not want to marry a prince. She had fallen in love with Chang, her
if

father's secretary,

who

of peach-colored silk,

sitting

lived in the island cottage

you

will find at the top of the

plate.

The Mandarin was very angry about this, and had forbidden the young man to
come to the house, at the same time forbidding Li-Chi to leave it, so that the
might have no chance of meeting. He went still further he betrothed his
to a Ta-jin, or Duke, who was rich, but many years older than Li-Chi.
Li-Chi had never seen the Ta-jin, but her father came to her one evening as she
was sitting on her balcony, which overhung the river, and told her he had made
arrangements for her marriage.
"Oh, no! no!" sobbed Li-Chi. "I love Chang! I can not marry anyone else."
"Chang shall never be your husband," replied the Mandarin sternly. "I have
promised the Ta-jin that you shall be married to him when the peach tree
lovers

daughter

blossoms."

The willow tree was in blossom then, for it was quite early in the year.
The peach would not bloom until the spring, but every day after this Li-Chi
watched the buds of the peach tree, which grew close to her window, unfolding,

BLUE WILLOW AND GAUDY WILLOW

35

and she watched them with dread and sorrow in her heart. "Is Chang dead or
has he forgotten all about me?" she wondered to herself.
But Chang was not dead, neither had he forgotten; he thought of her night
and day, and at last one evening he sent her a message.
She was sitting on her balcony as usual, when a little boat made out of half a
coconut shell, and fitted with a tiny sail, floated right to her feet. Inside it she
found a colored bead she had given her lover, a sure proof that the boat came
from Chang; and also a piece of bamboo paper on which these words were
written:

"When the willow fades away,

And the peach tree groweth gay
Tell

me, sweetheart, can it be

will steal my love from me?"

They

Li-Chi took her ivory tablets from the bosom of her dress and wrote an answer
to his letter in the

same

strain:

"When

the peach tree blooms, sweetheart,

I must weep and part.

Hasten then to take the prize
Ere 'tis seen by robber's eyes."

Thou and

She knew that her lover would understand

flowery language, and she put

this

the tablets in the boat, and lighted a stick of frankincense and placed

it

in the

bow.

And

leaning over the balcony, she watched

it

sail

away

into the darkness of

the night.

"He
The

will

come

for

me

before

my wedding

day," she said softly to herself.

night air was full of the scent of flowers, and everything was

still.

Li-Chi

imagined she could hear the blossoms on the willow tree sighing faintly, and
saying, "It will be too late we are dying!" For Chang had promised, the last time
they met, that he would come for her while the willow was still in blossom.
And she thought she heard the buds on the peach tree replying: "We are
nearly ready to open. Then she will marry the Ta-jin!"
Chang, on the farther bank of the river, waited to draw his frail little bark to
land, and when he read the verse on the ivory tablets, his smile went up to the
corners of his eyes, as Chinese smiles generally do; and he walked into the
gardener's cottage where he was stopping, and called the gardener and his wife.
"Do you know when the Ta-jin is coming?" he said.
"The betrothal feast is fixed for next Thursday, for the moon will then be
lucky," replied the old man. "The Mandarin has ordered his gardeners to take
six dozen carp out of the fish ponds, and there are to be golden and silver
pheasants on the table, and boar's head and roast peacock."
"And six casks of wine to be broached," continued his wife. "And as many
oysters as his guests can eat."
"The servants say that the Ta-jin is bringing his bride such a casket of jewels
as never was seen," said the gardener. "A necklace of pearls each pearl as big
half

as a sparrow's

egg"

"Pigeon's egg, stupid!" interrupted the wife.

"Sparrow's egg, imbecile!" he retorted.

"Pigeon's egg, idiot!" repeated the old
"It doesn't

woman

matter which," Chang broke

you could borrow me one of the

queting room that night?"

in.

angrily.
I want to know is whether
and smuggle me into the ban-

"What

servants' dresses

"It is impossible," replied the gardener,

shaking his head.

about Chang's love story, but they were afraid of
helping him. Neither of them dared to risk the displeasure of such a rich and
powerful Mandarin as Li-Chi's father.

The

old couple

knew

all

The next few days passed

in preparation for the betrothal feast.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

36

Servants were running hither and thither

stopped giving orders from morning

all

the time; the Mandarin never

night; the banqueting hall

till

was swept and

strewn with sweet-scented leaves and the walls and roof hung with colored-silk

and fans.
Everyone was happy and busy except Li-Chi, who sat on her balcony, with her
embroidery lying idle on her lap, and her eyes gazing wistfully across the river
that separated her from her lover.
On the morning of the betrothal feast the peach tree was covered with lovely
pink blossoms, while the willow blossoms hung faded and drooping on the tree.
This made Li-Chi so sad she could not stay on the balcony; she went into her
room and sat on a couch, with her head resting on her hands, watching her
attendants as they spread out on the floor the rich silk dresses the Ta-jin had
lanterns

sent as a present to his bride.

They were

all

the colors of the rainbow, pale blue, and pink, and yellow, and

purple, embroidered in gold and silver,

embroidered with
"This

is

and one

of

them was peach-colored

silk,

pearls.

women.

just the dress for a bride," said the

But Li-Chi shook her head. "I will not wear peach-color any more," she said.
At noon the Ta-jin sent her by his servant the box of jewels of which the
gardener and his wife had spoken. There were diamonds and rubies in it of such
size that the Emperor himself would not have despised them. And the necklace of
pearls went twice around Li-Chi's neck, and nearly to her waist.
At last her attendants persuaded her to allow them to dress her for her betrothal
and they chose a beautiful blue-silk dress, embroidered all over with golden
butterflies; because in China butterflies are looked as a symbol of married happiness. And they fastened the pearls around her throat, and put some shining jewels
in her hair.

"For she

going to be a great lady the wife of a duke," they

is

in the hair are only for

"Now

leave

me

common

quite alone,"

said.

"Flowers

people."

commanded

Li-Chi,

when

they had finished.

She was tired of all their foolish talk about the Ta-jin, and wanted to step out
once more and see if the willow-blossoms were quite faded, and if there was no
message from Chang sailing to her across the water. The women went away, but
came back in a moment to tell her that one of the servants wished to speak to
her. "Let him come in," said Li-Chi impatiently. The young man who entered wore
a long blue cotton robe, and a broad straw hat that half-concealed his face, but
as soon as they were alone he took off the hat, making her a low-sweeping bow,

and Li-Chi saw

it,

when he

but

that

it

was Chang

himself.

For a moment she could not believe

took her in his arms and kissed her, crumpling

butterflies in his eagerness, she

knew

it

was

really her lover,

up

all

the golden

who had come

to

save her from marrying the Ta-jin.

"How

did you get here?" she asked, sobbing for joy.

myself as a beggar," said Chang, showing her the rags he wore

under his blue robe. "But when I came to the banqueting room, to ask for alms,
everyone was too busy to listen to me. So I managed to slip behind the screen
they had spread across the lower end of it and find my way to your room."
"I disguised

"And
"One
Li-Chi,

this?' said

Li-Chi, touching his servant's dress.

of the servants

how

can

happened

to

disguise you? For

have

left

we must

it

behind the screen. And now,

pass behind the screen again, and

through the banqueting-room door into the garden, and across the bridge

to the

gardener's cottage."

He

looked quickly around the room, and found a garment belonging to Li-Chi's

old nurse, which covered

all

her bridal finery, except her pretty

little

gold-

embroidered shoes.
"Never mind my shoes," she said. "I shall run so fast no one will see them."
She took her distaff in her hand because she did not want to be an idle, useless
wife to Chang, and she gave him the box of jewels to carry.
I do not think they ought to have taken the jewels, although the Ta-jin had

BLUE WILLOW AND GAUDY WILLOW

37

given them to Li-Chi, but perhaps Chang did not know what was in the box,
and he was in too great a hurry to ask.
"The willow-blossoms droop upon the bough, my darling! We must delay no
longer," he said.

And, indeed,

as the lovers crept

blossoms of the willow

last

"If

my

to the

behind the screen a

light

breeze shook the

ground.

father should see us!" whispered Li-Chi, holding her lover's

hand very

tightly.
"I have prayed to the good Genii not to let him
he comes near they will change us into two stars, shining together,
perhaps, two turtle doves. You would not mind that, would you?"

"Don't be afraid," said Chang.

catch us.
or,

If

do not mind anything, except parting from you,"

They reached the garden in safety, and Chang led

"I

replied Li-Chi.
his

sweetheart toward the

bridge.

But Li-Chi's pretty little shoes would not allow her to run very fast, after all,
and when they got to the foot of the bridge, the Mandarin came running down
the garden path, with whip in his hand.
"Stop! stop!" he cried furiously. "Will no one stop the thief who has stolen my
daughter?"

Chang put Li-Chi

in front of him, and she ran across the bridge first, with her
while he followed her with the casket of jewels. Behind them both came

distaff,

the Mandarin, brandishing his whip. But the good Genii,

who were watching

over the lovers, saw that the Mandarin gained quickly on Chang, and there was

no chance of their escaping.

"He
shall

will flog

we

Then

Chang

to death,

and shut Li-Chi up

for the rest of her

life.

What

do?" they asked each other.

the Genii said, "Let us change

be happy together

them

into

two

turtle doves, that they

may

Mandarin, therefore, put his hand out to

seize the young man by the shoulder, the box of jewels fell splash! splash! into
the water, and Chang and Li-Chi were changed into two beautiful doves. They
at once flew away, out of the Mandarin's reach, and he was left with whip in his
hand, and the Ta-jin's jewels at the bottom of the river.

The

story does not

Ta-jin said to
It

after all." Just as the

only

tell

us any

him when he

tells

us that

more about him how he got home,

or

what the

arrived.

Chang and Li-Chi were

as

happy

as

two

turtle

doves

could be.

And

come across a willow-pattern plate, you must look for

above the bridge.
On the bridge itself you will see three figures, Li-Chi with her distaff, Chang
with the jewels, and the Mandarin with his whip.
At one end is the famous willow tree which shed its blossoms the day of the
elopement; at the other is the gardener's cottage and at the top of the plate an
island, with another on it, in which Chang had hoped to live with Li-Chi.
But instead of that they built a cozy nest in the garden, from which they could
watch the willow and the peach tree bloom and fade without any fear of being
parted from each other.
the next time you

them, hovering in the

air

O
_o
fcti

CQ

lO

o
05

T3

o
o

H
cq

W
D

J
~ -

'

CQ
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w
H
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CQ

<

CU

53

u
o

O
-3

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'

'

j
<

in

.:'

D
m

u.
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|:

CO

CQ

Q
S
E

D
O
w
H

7 j.
~ ~

:
~,

--J -

:.'

r=

"5

" /

<

0)

I.

H -

c
en

|:
-

/.

D
m
C

u
H

H
O
0<

r r

t-

3C

<
to
1X4

CI

P
CQ

GO

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~ =

jf a,

_,---*,-
;

,.

j-

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-

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i-

<-/_-

23.

made
had,
"First

Willow
1905
on the bottom, the words
Old Willow Ware Manufac-

All

at

pieces

of

Blue

Buffalo Pottery in

tured in America."

24.

Close-up of a Blue Willow platter, 16 by 13 inches, dated 1908.

BLUE WILLOW AND GAUDY WILLOW

41

26.

The Blue Willow

items

in

this

grouping bear various dates. At the top

are a demitasse cup and saucer, 9-inch
dinner plate, and a teacup and saucer.
The bottom row contains two butter pats,
sugar bowl, and creamer.

Covered vegetable dish with scalloped edge measures 9 by 11 inches. It

25.

is

dated 1911.

27.
Blue Willow of various dates. Top row: a
bottom row: compote, egg cup, butter dish.

relish dish, 7-inch pitcher, pickle dish;

28.

10V4-inch dinner plate

Gaudy Willow, dated

1907. The design is the same

in

as

Blue Willow, but hand-

decorated

in

vivid colors.

Pieces from a child's tea set in Blue Willow.

29.

Shown

open sugar, and creamer,

are a luncheon plate, cup and saucer, butter pat, and fruit
dish. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Barry J. Rodgers.

here, in addition to the teapot,

Buffalo China pitchers dated

30.

of

1922.

W2, and 6 inches respectively (left

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Francis.

10,

They measure

to right).

Courtesy

variety

of

Pitchers and Jugs

Among the most

collectible of the items

made at the buffalo pottery was

a series of pitchers or jugs produced between 1905 and 1909. Most of these were
plainly dated on the bottom. It is not known how many were made, but today
the

demand

is

and the supply apparently somewhat limited a

great

situation

that adds to the excitement of collecting.

The shape
influence.

of

This

some
is

shows a definite English Doulton

understandable many Buffalo Pottery potters had

of the pitchers in the series

quite

learned their trade in the English potteries. However, American

artistic

indi-

vidualism was not to be denied either, and so the series also boasts pitchers of
original

design some

tall

and

thin, others short

referred to as "jugs" in the Larkin catalogs.

and squat. (These

latter

were

Some shapes were produced only

in

by any other pottery, so

far as the authors have been able to learn. These show a good deal of imagination
and reflect the influence of the Art Nouveau period at the turn of the century.
An excellent example is the pitcher shown in 111. 45, with its swirling design; the
pitcher itself is also shaped along Art Nouveau lines.
The pitcher series had decorations in a wide variety of colors, and in most
cases these are as bright and perfect today as when the pitchers were made,
because the decorations were applied under the glaze. Some of the designs were
transfer-printed on the unglazed pieces, but on many pieces the design was
hand-decorated. Quite a number of the pitchers had a line of pure coin gold
around the top edge and the handles. Gold was also used in many of the designs.
The jug and pitcher series was made of semivitreous china, since it was
produced in the years before the Buffalo Pottery made vitrified ware. The most
these specific years and were never copied thereafter

determined research has failed to reveal any further information about the
series. Records are nonexistent; surviving employees cannot recall any details
about the ware. Consequently, credit for the designs and decorations cannot be

Although the initials of a number of artists appear

none can be linked with a known employee.
The authors' years of research have so far turned up twenty-nine distinctly
different specimens in this series. However, new ones continue to show up on
the market occasionally, and so the total is quite likely to increase.
attributed to individual

artists.

on the bottom of the various

pitchers,

43

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

44

Supposedly, the wares of the Buffalo Pottery were to be used as premiums for
the Larkin

Company, but

a search through the Larkin catalogs

known

shows that only

The
was listed in November, 1905; a few subsequent catalogs listed pitchers.
The subjects reproduced on the pitchers covered a relatively wide range all
the way from historical themes, literature, and foreign lands, to flowers, outdoor
scenes, and abstract designs (111. 35). A list of the known pitchers is given below:
eight of the twenty-nine

pitchers ever received a catalog listing.

first

HISTORICAL SUBJECTS
The Landing of Roger Williams
George Washington
The Whaling City New Bedford, Massachusetts

1907

Pilgrim

1908

John Paul Jones

1907

1907
1907

LITERARY THEMES
Robin Hood

1906
1907 and 1908

Gloriana
Roosevelt Bears

1907

Cinderella

undated

Rip Van Winkle

1907

OUTDOOR SCENES
Sailing Ships

and Lightship
the Whirl

The Fox Hunt and

The Old Mill
Wild Ducks
Hounds and Stag
The Buffalo Hunt
The Gunner
Sailors

1906
of the

Town

1908
1907
1907
1906

undated
undated

and Lighthouse

1906

DUTCH SCENES
Dutch Jug

1906 and 1907

Holland

1908

OTHERS
Vertical Stripe

1906

Blue Geranium
Triumph (Annual Poppy)
Art Nouveau

1905
1908

undated
undated

Orchids

Chrysanthemum
Mason Jug

1907

Canton Blue Flowers

Melon-shaped China Pitcher

The

undated

1905
1909

and jugs varies according to the availability of the

depends on the demand in the specific area of the
country. The usual range in price is from $50.00 to $150, with the trend being
steadily upward.
price for pitchers

particular specimen, and

also

31.
Rip Van Winkle jug dated 1906. Height is 6!/2 inches.
Hand-decorated in multicolors. The other side of the jug
pictures Rip as a young man, sitting on a log in the forest
with his dog and his gun at his side. Under the spout of

the jug is a picture of Joseph Jefferson, the actor who

played the part of Rip on the stage in 1865 and for years

afterward. Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin,

Jr.

32.

Sailor pitcher

oration

is

in blue.

dated 1906. Height

On

the opposite side

a rocky shore. Courtesy of Mr.

34.

is

9 A inches. Decl

a lighthouse

and Mrs. Pat

Nautical pitcher dated 1906. Height

As on the pitcher shown

blue.

is

The

side facing

in

111.

is

on

Cutini.

9l4 inches.

32, the decorations are in

the camera shows a lightship at

anchor, positioned to warn ships of treacherous waters.

The opposite

side has a scene of ships with their

sails

billowing in the wind. Note the gulls in the border design.

33.
Cinderella jug dated 1906. Height is 6 inches. A
beautiful jug hand-decorated in a multitude of colors, with
a good deal of gold trim. The opposite side pictures the

prince trying the slipper on Cinderella's foot. This jug was

shown only in the Larkin catalog of 1905, but was also

made

in

subsequent years.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

46

Landing

Roger Williams jug, 1906, hand-decorated

Height is 6 inches. This scene shows the
Indians greeting Williams as he landed in Rhode Island.
36.

of

in multicolors.

On
35.

very rare striped pitcher dated 1909. Height

8 inches.

The

is

striped areas are decorated in green, white,

the opposite side

is

Betsy Williams' cottage. The area

below the lip pictures an anchor and capstan (at the center) and Indian tepees. This is one of the few jugs also

made

in Deldare.

and pink marbleized pattern. The beading and trim were

done in pure gold. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

38.

Whaling City

chusetts,

37.

Old Mill

decoration

on both

is

jug,

1906. Height

blue edged in gold.

sides of this jug.

is 6 inches. The ornate

The same scene appears

jug, souvenir of

1907. Height

is

6 inches.

New

Bedford, Massa-

The decoration

is

in

brown. Scene on the other side shows the Niger, last of

the famous full-rigged ships engaged in whaling. In the
area under the spout appears a large wooden fluked
anchor above New Bedford's official seal.

I'l

HERS AND JUGS

47

Town and

the Foxhunt jug, 1908. Height

7 inches. The hand decoration

in bright colors includes a fox-

The Whirl

39.
is

of the

hunt on the opposite side of the jug. This piece was offered only
Larkin catalog of 1905, but was also made in subsequent

in the

years.

Pilgrim pitcher, 1908. Height

40.
is

in bright colors.

The main
Priscilla,

appears:

Robb
owns

9 inches. Hand decoration

is

Miles Standish appears on the side shown.

picture on the opposite side

is

but there are other smaller scenes

"The

spinner,

of Buffalo,

New

this pitcher in

Robin Hood

the queen

of

of John Alden
too.

Under

Helvetia."

and

the spout

Mrs.

Walter

York, the daughter of John D. Larkin,

Deldare, also dated 1908.

1906. Height

8*4 inches. Hand-decoshows Robin Hood shooting an arrow into a poacher who had killed a deer. This jug
was offered in the Larkin catalog of 1905. It was made also in a
Deldare body, dated 1906.

41.

jug,

rated in rich colors.

The opposite

side

is

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

48

42.

Roosevelt Bears pitcher.

this pitcher.

Height

is

The

years 1906 and 1908 both appear on the bottom of

8 inches. Hand-decorated in a host of bright colors, the pitcher

covered with scenes and quotations from The Roosevelt Bears, a

books written by Seymour Eaton and illustrated by Floyd Campbell.

is

series of children's

PITCHERS AND JUGS

49

43.

George Washington

jug,

1907. Height

is

IV2 inches.

Jug has blue decoration, gold trim. Washington's home at

Mount Vernon appears on the opposite side. There is a
full portrait

of

Washington under the spout. This jug was

offered only in the Larkin catalog of 1905.

44.

Gloriana pitcher,

pitcher

1907. Height

is

exquisitely hand-decorated in

9 /* inches. The
1

many

colors, with
gold trim used lavishly. (The same pitcher was made also
with blue decoration.) On the opposite side, Gloriana appears in a different setting, wearing a morning glory for a
is

bonnet. Gloriana was the

Queene)

for Elizabeth

name Spenser used

(in his Faerie

I.

Art Nouveau pitcher, 1908. Height is 8V2 inches.

Hand-decorated in blue and gold. The flowers bear some
resemblance to the Mayapple or mandrake.

45.

50

46.

Holland jug, dated both 1906, 1908.

is 6 inches. Colorful hand decoration

Hunt jug, undated (circa 1906). Height is

Top border and handle are dark blue-green surmounted with a band of gold. The scene is adapted from
47.

Height

includes three scenes of

the

body

around the

of

the jug

Buffalo

6 inches.

Dutch children around

and a rural landscape

Frederick Remington's painting "Her Calf" (1897); a

bison calf appears on the other side of the jug. A version
of the same hunting scene appears on two of the platters

top.

pictured in the next chapter.

Wild Ducks jug, 1907. Height is 6 inches. Again,

dark blue-green decor with gold band around the top. The
wild-ducks scene is the same as appears on one of the
plates in 111. 65 (if some allowance is made for the distor48.

tion

caused by the curve of the jug). Pictured on the other

side of the jug

is

dog named "Major, Old Hoss"

believed to have belonged to William Rea, the

intendent of the pottery.

first

that

is

super-

49.

Hounds and Stag

inches.

Hand

jug, 1906.

Height

is

6A
l

decoration includes a continu-

ous multicolor scene around the top showing

hounds harrying stags. Flowers resembling ge-

raniums and

thistles

decorate the lower part

of the jug. Buffalo Pottery artists took quite a

few

liberties in interpreting the flower species

used on jugs and pitchers.

PITCHERS AND JUGS

50.

Dutch

This piece

jug,
is

vivid colors.

1907.

Height

hand-decorated

The scene on

is

in

6!/2

51

inches.

a variety of

the other side in-

51.

Triumph

Height

is

the jug.

jug,

undated

(circa

1906).

7 inches. Blue annual poppies circle

Gold

is

also

used

in the design.

cludes a windmill.

52.

Geranium

jug,

1905. Height

and-white decoration on
leaves.

1905

is

QV-i

inches. All-over blue-

geraniums and their

Larkin catalogs from

this jug consists of

The geranium jug was listed in

was also made with multicolor

to 1910. It

decoration.

Orchid Spray
on the white body
53.

pastel shades.

jug, circa 1905.

Decoration

consists of orchid sprays in

54.

Mason

jug,

1907. Height

is

8V4 inches. Decoration in

shadings of deep blue-green consists of what appear to be

Neapolitan fishermen and

relatively

Roman

ruins

around the top and a

conventional fruit and flower design around the

Jug with "The Gunner" scene (which also appears on

111.
70) dates from about 1905. Height is 6
inches. Decoration is deep blue-green in color against a white
background. Top border is speckled with gold.

55.

the plate in

lower part.

John Paul Jones pitcher, dated 1907.

Height is 9'/i inches. Blue decoration includes
a battle scene on the reverse side in which

56.

Jones's

ship,

Bon

Homme

Richard,

and the

[Se]Rapis are engaged in a fierce struggle.

57.

Melon-shaped pitcher,

1909.

Height

8 3/4 inches. This graceful pitcher with

its

is

re-

is made of bone
were made for Mrs.
John D. Larkin, who gave many away as gifts.

strained decoration in gold

china.

A number

like

it

Fish, Fowl,

Deer
The

and

Sets

fowl, and deer sets produced by buffalo pottery in the early

years were extensively used by the Larkin Company as premiums. The fact that
the sets were advertised continuously in the catalogs for so many years not only
attests to their great popularity but also helps to explain the wide distribution
they achieved. A complete set in any of these patterns consisted of an oval serving
platter 15 inches by 11 inches and six 9-inch plates.
The fowl or bird set appeared in the Larkin catalog from 1908 through 1909.
The deer-family set was listed from 1909 through 1914; the fish set from 1909
through 1910. Although the 1907 catalog did not list any game sets, the authors
have found pieces bearing that date for example, fowl plates. Perhaps these were
produced in advance, anticipating a catalog listing the following year.
The Larkin catalogs of 1905 through 1910 showed an attractive pair of 9-inch
game plaques ("placques" in the catalogs) decorated under the glaze in deep
blue-green, with a scalloped edge rimmed in gold. One plaque was entitled "The
Gunner" (111. 70); the other was "Wild Ducks" (111. 65). A plate showing wild
ducks was also part of the fowl set. The plaques, which could be obtained
singly or as a pair, were drilled on the back for hanging. They too were popular
and widely distributed.
Very scarce, and probably done only in limited numbers for other customers of
the pottery rather than the Larkin Company, were various game and sporting
plates with hand-painted decoration, like those shown in Ills. 71 to 78. These were
individually designed, the subjects apparently chosen according to the preference
of the customer or the whim of the artist. They should not be confused with the
fish,

wildlife sets described below.

The year

of manufacture appears

on the reverse side of most fowl

sets,

but

unfortunately the pottery neglected to date both the deer and fish sets. Also
unlike the deer and fish sets, each piece in the fowl set has the name of the
species under
as

were

all

its

picture. All three types of sets

were made of semivitreous china,

the individual wildlife plates except the one

53

shown

in

111.

78.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

54
Fish Sets

(Ills.

58-61)

Native American game

varieties, were utilized

on these plates. R. K. Beck, the famous wildlife
painter, created the scenes, which were applied by decal under the glaze and
were faithful to the original Beck paintings. His name appears on every plate.
The borders are usually myrtle green or deep blue-green, edged in pure gold; the
centers are white. Some sets, however, were made with a white border edged
in gold. The fish and their background appear in natural colors.
fish,

both fresh- and salt-water

for the action scenes displayed

Fowl

or Bird Sets

(Ills.

62-65)

American game birds portrayed on the fowl sets

are generally attributed to the Buffalo Pottery artist Ralph Stuart, although his
signature cannot be found on any of the pieces. Each scene is extremely well
executed, with the birds shown in great detail. The scenes were applied by
transfer print, under the glaze, in various shades of blue-green. The edges are
scalloped, most of them being trimmed in gold; the borders are also deep bluegreen. An embossed scroll-type design was used on many of the pieces, but not
on all of them. However, as is true in the case of the deer and fish series as
well, the background colors were not always consistent; and some fowl plates
also have a different style of border light green shading into white, the goldtrimmed edge smooth instead of scalloped.
The large oval platter in the fowl set ( 111. 62 ) was unique in that the game bird
continuity was not adhered to on this platter was a version of Frederick
Remington's renowned 1897 painting "Her Calf."

The

Deer

original drawings of the

Sets

Each

(Ills.

66-69)

plate in the deer set pictured a different species of deer in

its

natural

habitat, and on each piece both a male and female of the species were portrayed.
R. K. Beck also created these scenes, which (like those on the fish sets) were
applied by decal under the glaze. The deer scenes were equally faithful to the
original Beck paintings. Again, Beck's signature appears near the bottom of each

scene.

these sets were done in myrtle green edged in pure gold; the
were white. Natural outdoor colors were used for the game and the
background. The background color scheme was not always adhered to, however,
and many of the sets had a border of darker green defined between two bands
of gold, though the centers of the plates were the same. Other border variations

The borders on

centers

are also found.

Today, Buffalo Pottery collectors sometimes hang one or more of these colorful
sets on the walls of a den or game room. An attractive decoration, they are most
particularly prized by sportsmen because they so accurately depict wildlife in
its

natural environment.

Fortunately, such sets are not as yet too difficult to obtain, and with some
effort a collector can complete the set of his preference within a reasonable time.
Currently, the 9-inch plates can usually be found for from $15.00 to $25.00 each,

about $35.00. Of course, the collector lucky enough to find

a complete set in perfect condition can expect to pay a premium price for it.
The individual game and sporting plates are so seldom seen on the market that
it is difficult to suggest a reliable price range. Certainly, any one would sell for

and the

platters for

much more

than any single plate or platter from the wildlife

sets.

The

58.

fish-set platter,

15 by 11 inches.

This was shown in the Larkin catalogs of

1909 and 1910. Like the six fish plates that

accompany it, it is decorated in natural colors and signed "R. K. Beck." The species
shown on the platter is a smallmouth black
bass.

59.

The

plates in the fish set measure 9

inches in diameter.

The one

at the left pic-

tures a landlocked salmon; the one at the

right, a

60.

the

A
left,

rainbow

trout.

striped bass

is

shown on the

plate at

a cutthroat trout on the one at right.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

56

61.

Fish-set plates

showing

the Atlantic salmon (at left)

and the Great Northern

Oval platter, 15 by 11 inches, is decorated with a buffalo-hunting scene adapted

from Frederick Remington's painting "Her Calf" (1897). Oddly, though animals are
featured in the scene on the platter, the six plates in the set show wild game birds.
Borders are deep blue-green. This set was shown in the Larkin catalogs of 1903 to 1909,
though some pieces bear a 1907 date.
62.

pike.

FISH,

FOWL, AND DEER SETS

57

Two

63.

of the plates from

The one at left,

dated 1908, pictures mallard
ducks; the one at right, dated
the fowl

set.

1907, the American herring

gull.

The 1903 game plate at

shows dusky grouse; the
1907 plate at right, a wild

64.

left

turkey.

On

the fowl

set,

all

the plates of

the

name

of the

bird appears in small letters

at

the bottom,

close

to

the

border.

65.

An American woodcock

appears on the 1907 plate at

left. The plate at right, dated
1908, shows wild ducks.

The deer

66.

set, like

the fish

set,

was

decorated with scenes taken from original paintings

platter,

by

R. K. Beck.

The

oval

15 by 11 inches, shows white-

tailed deer against a multicolor natural

background.

All

pieces

of the

set

are

signed by Beck but none are dated. They

were
1909

listed in the

67.

Two

ing

moose

plates from the deer set

tailed deer.

68.

one

The

plate at the left shows elk; the

at right, sika deer.

Larkin catalogs from

to 1914.

(at left)

show-

and eastern white-

FISH,

FOWL, AND DEER SETS

59

69.

The

plate at the left shows fallow

deer; the plate at right, caribou deer.

Plaque measuring 9 inches, titled "The

is dated 1907. Decoration is in deep
blue-green, under the glaze. Edge is trimmed
in gold. Plaque with this decoration was shown
in Larkin catalogs from 1905 to 1910.
70.

Gunner,"

72.

7 '/2-inch plate marked "Buffalo Pottery"

shows ring-necked pheasants. Decoration, handpainted over the glaze in natural colors, has

been attributed

to

Ralph

Stuart.

71.

Edge

Rectangular platter, 11 by 14 inches, has a deep blue-green border.

is

scalloped and

rimmed with

gold.

60

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

A 9V4-inch plate bearing the

legend "Champion Bromley Crib."
73.

The

plate

is

not dated. Persistent

research turned
that the bulldog

up the information
Bromley Crib was

registered with the Kennel Club in

London, England, in 1897, his
owner being one H. A. Marfleet,
Esq., also of London. But no information has come to light about the
client for whom the plate was made,
or the purpose. Courtesy of Alice

Herrmann Antiques.

Ralph Stuart again chose ringnecked pheasant for his subject on

this 10'/2-inch, signed but undated
plate. The decoration is handpainted under the glaze. Courtesy
of Mrs. Fred Meatyard.
74.

FISH,

FOWL, AND DEER SETS

Though the artist's name does not appear on

undated 9-inch plate, the scene showing a crane
is hand-painted under the glaze. Border design is in
black. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

61

Handsome

9-inch plate signed "R. Stuart" and

75.

76.

this

dated 1916. Decoration

is

hand-painted under the

glaze against an ivory background. Courtesy of the

Vogel family.

78.

An

8'^2-inch

plate,

signed"R. Stuart," bears a

scene depicting quail, hand-painted over the glaze.

77.
Peacock and vine are hand-painted on a white
background, under the glaze. Plate measures 9
inches in diameter. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

The ornate border decoration

is in gold. Reverse side

Thin China made at Buffalo
Pottery, August, 1915." Courtesy of the Vogel family.

carries the

words

"First

and
Commemorative and
Advertising Wares
Historical Plates

This chapter must necessarily be divided into

(and

two

distinct categories, the

and the second the various

commemorative and advertising items. Although these two series were produced
at approximately the same period of time, they were for the most part diverse
in shape, color,* and design, and made for different purposes.
first

earliest)

Historical Series

being the historical plate

(Ills.

series,

79-84)

first offered as a premium in the Larkin catalog of January,

was shown continuously thereafter until the catalog of 1910. A complete
set of historical plates, available in either Canton blue or green, consisted of six
10-inch round plates, each one different, showing a site made famous in the
early history of the country. The exception, not a historic site, was the early
view of Niagara Falls, surely as famous as most historic buildings. (This same
view of Niagara Falls was used to decorate a 7?2-inch plate either in deep blue-

This series was

1905. It

green or multicolor.)

The

scenes on the historical series were reproduced from fine steel engravings,

and are exact

The edges

in every detail. Unfortunately,

combine a geometric pattern and

The

no

specific engraver

can be credited.

of the plates are very slightly scalloped; the borders well executed

reverse side of each plate

The plates are semivitreous china.

marked "Buffalo Pottery Underglaze,"

floral clusters.
is

clearly

but this series does not bear the date of manufacture. One innovation in the
trademark on these plates is the use of an eagle instead of the usual buffalo. The
title of the scene and its location are given beneath the trademark in each case.

The White House plate carries a partial

The majority of the pieces from this

history of the house on the reverse side.

series that the authors

have seen have

survived the years extremely well. Obviously, thousands of sets were distributed

The

color used on

many

of the pieces referred to in this chapter

catalogs as being "robin egg blue." Since the actual color

is

was described

in

a deeper blue-green than

Larkin

what

is

generally regarded today as robin's-egg blue, in their text the authors have termed the color

"deep blue-green," to avoid misleading or confusing beginning

62

collectors.

HISTORICAL PLATES, COMMEMORATIVE, ADVERTISING WARES

and although they are not available in great supply today

is relatively moderate. At a recent auction, a complete

to Larkin customers,
in

63

antique shops, the price

set of six plates

was

sold for $75.00.

Commemorative and Advertising

Early in this century
fraternal organizations,

gesture of goodwill.

Pieces

(Ills.

85113)

was quite common for merchants, religious institutions,

and civic groups to distribute china items free, as a

it

Some

of these items openly advertised a business establish-

Some were decorated to commemorate a building, place, or organization,

and these too may have been given away by commercial firms, even though they

ment.

bore no advertiser's name. During most of the years Buffalo Pottery was in
operation, the fad of collecting souvenirs was also in its heyday; hence, it is

made and decorated with

buildings and
any case, it is known
that the firm realized the potential of the commemorative and advertising market,
and having the facilities to manufacture appropriate items, solicited this type of
business from all parts of the country.
No records remain of the various items the pottery made for this market, and
none of these wares were ever listed in any Larkin catalog. The authors have
discovered twenty-six deep blue-green plates of various kinds. Here again,
additional plates may well turn up. Most of the designs and pictures used on
these plates were specially drawn by Buffalo Pottery artists to meet the requirements of individual purchasers. A few customers elected to have the scenes
shown on the existing historical series reproduced for their needs.
Not all commemorative and advertising pieces were dated. The earliest date
found on plates is 1905; the latest, 1911. Apparently the plates were discontinued
in that year. The Buffalo Pottery trademark appears clearly on the back of all the
plates, and on some, historical or other pertinent information can also be found
on the reverse side. All the scenes were put on under the glaze.
These plates are approximately 7% inches in diameter, with the exception of the
Teddy Roosevelt plate (111. 87), which measures 8 inches. Another distinctive
feature of that plate is its outer border, which is decorated in the Bonrea pattern
with deep blue-green and gold. The majority of the plates have a deep blue-green
border shading into a white center; most of the scenes are also done in deep
blue-green. A few pieces, such as the Improved Order of the Red Men plate
(111. 90), and those picturing Mt. Vernon
and Niagara Falls (not
(111. 95)
shown ) were hand-decorated in several colors, as well as being available entirely
in deep blue-green. The scalloped edges were trimmed in pure coin gold. It is
believed that, in a number of cases, more than one customer elected to use the
same design. The advertising plates were also semivitreous china decorated
under the glaze. In most instances, like the plates in the historical series, they
remain in extremely good condition today and show few age checks and little
possible that

some of the

plates the firm

may have been made

the like

for the souvenir market. In

discoloration.

Not pictured

book are three additional advertising plates that the authors

One 7/2 inches in diameter and dark blue-green in
color shows a smelter and a smokestack, identified on the plate as b. & m.
SMELTER, AND THE LARGEST SMOKE STACK IN THE WORLD. 506 FT. HIGH. GREAT FALLS,
Montana. Another plate of the same size and color shows the McKinley Monument in Buffalo. The third plate, also 7% inches, has multicolor decal decoration
on a white body. On the front are Generals Wolfe and Montcalm, with a monument between them reading: "Here died Wolfe victorious./ Ter Centenary, 1759
Quebec 1908." The border pictures all the Canadian provincial crests. The back
of this plate is marked "Registered 1908/ W. A. Reynolds."
in this

learned of quite recently.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

64

come to the
Deep blue and white in color, they resemble the English
commemorative plates put out by Rowland & Marcellus. The first two measure
10/2 inches in diameter; the third is only 9?2 inches in diameter. The first, dated
Entirely different in color and size are three other plates that have

authors' attention.

1908,

commemorates

New

Bedford, Massachusetts

(111.

85); the second, a plate

for the General A. P. Stewart Chapter,

United Daughters of the Confederacy,

undated. The third and smallest, also undated,

Richmond, Virginia (111. 86A), is

was made for the Women's Christian Temperance Union ( 86B ) No doubt more
plates of this type will come to light.
For customers who did not want to advertise or to commemorate an event with
a plate, the pottery could provide mugs. These were approximately 4 inches high
(Ills. 109-113). Although the background colors of the mugs varied widely, all
mugs were shaped alike.
The wares described in this chapter are becoming increasingly popular with
collectors. The plates, easy to display to good effect, generally attract favorable
comment; some are real conversation pieces. Prices range from $18.00 up, the
multicolored ones bringing the higher figures. The Teddy Roosevelt plate
.

doubtless brings the highest price of

all

because

it

is

extremely rare.

Mugs

sell

for approximately $12.00 or higher.

The plates in this and the five immediately following

photographs make up the historical series offered in Larkin
catalogs from 1905 until 1910. The decoration on these
10-inch plates is done in Canton blue or green, under the
glaze; pieces are not dated but each one is described on
79.

the back.

The

familiar Capitol building in

pears on this one.

Washington ap-

80.

On

the reverse of this plate

is

the following legend:

"The White House, Washington. Erected 1792. 1st occupied by John Adams. Partially destroyed 1814. Restoration
1816."

65

83.

Washington's home, Mount Vernon, ap-

pears on this plate of the historical series.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

*Wv
Cfi

]i!!ii;'!

Hi Ijii

liTlTiTTi

IMPii

g
'*

*>*

The

84.

the back

sixth plate in the historical series.

On

the following: "Faneuil Hall Boston/ Cradle of Liberty, 1742."

85.

is

Commemorative

ameter,

made

Massachusetts. Plate

der the glaze, and

scene,

on the

plate, 10!/2 inches in di-

the city of

for

is
is

Ago

Bedford,

dated 1908. Below the

front, are the

ford Fifty Years

New

decorated in blue, un-

words "New Bedby

original painting

William A. Wall in 1857."

HISTORICAL PLATES, COMMEMORATIVE, ADVERTISING WARES

86 A.

The

67

10'/2-inch plate, also decorated in

blue under the glaze, that was produced around

1908 in commemoration of the General A. P.

Stewart Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, No. 81, of Richmond, Virginia.

86 B. Commemorative plate (9 inches), with

deep blue underglaze decoration was made for
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
(W.C.T.U.) circa 1908. On back are these
words: "Souvenir Plate of the World's and
National W.C.T.U. and the Crusade. Designed
by Mrs. Anna Onslatt, Coryden, Ind." The
border

is

decorated with the homes of the

leaders in this

movement

a church that

was involved

center

is

the

home

ond president

of

in its early days,

in

it

also.

and

In the

of Frances E. Willard, sec-

the

national

organization

(1879-1898). Courtesy of Pinneys' Antiques.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

68

87.

Commemorative

plate showing

Theodore Roosevelt.

This 8-inch plate, dated 1905 and marked "Buffalo Pottery China,"

is

decorated under the glaze in deep blue-

green with gold tracings. The border

is

in the

Bonrea pat-

tern.

89.
A 7'/2-inch commemorative plate. This one
shows the Hudson Terminal Buildings in New York
City. It is decorated in deep blue-green under the
glaze.

88.

Commemorative

plate

titled

"Buffalo,

decorated in underglaze dark blue,

across.

is

7'/2

N.Y.,"

inches

is also in the Bonrea pattern. Bufcommemorative and advertising plates

date of manufacture from 1905 to 1915.

Border here

falo Pottery

range in

90.

Made

that

Improved Order of the Red Men,

commemorative plate is one of the few

for the

this 7'/2-inch

came hand-decorated

in multicolors also.

HISTORICAL PLATES, COMMEMORATIVE, ADVERTISING WARES

91.

7 /2-inch commemorative plate

1

made for the

Red Men.

Erie Tribe of the Improved Order of the

On

92.

for the

Deep blue-green commemorative plate (7V2

made for the Benevolent and Protective Or-

the back of this 7 '/2-inch

commemorative
deep blue-green are the words
Buffalo June 18-24, 1911." Plate was made

plate decorated in

"Held

93.

69

94.

inches)

ity

der of Elks in honor of their dead brothers.

is

at

Modern Woodmen

America.

A 7'/2-inch commemorative plate made for TrinNew York City, about 1906. Decoration

Church,

in

of

deep blue-green.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

70

Commemorative plate, IV2 inches in diameter

and titled "Washington's Home at Mt. Vernon,"
came in hand-decorated multicolor as well as deep

96.

blue-green.

green

95.

97.

Deep

blue-green, 7'/4-inch

showing Gates

commemorative

Circle, Buffalo, N.Y., circa 1907.

plate

Commemorative

plate showing the

Odd

Fel-

lows Hall in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts (1884-

1910),

98.

is

made

in the usual size

and deep blue-

color.

This 7'/2-inch, deep blue-green commemorative

plate

was made

falo,

N.Y.

On

for St.

Mary Magdalen Church, Buf-

the reverse side

is

the caption "First

mass said cor. Fillmore and E. Utica, June 25, 1890.

First mass said in school building, March 18, 1900.

The dedication

of the

new

church, Oct. 20, 1907."

HISTORICAL PLATES, COMMEMORATIVE, ADVERTISING WARES

99.

Commemorative

plate,

decorated in the usual

deep blue-green, showing the White House, Washington, D.C. Back is labeled with the name of the
structure, and adds, "erected 1792."

101.

Commemorative

100.
size

Commemorative plate, circa 1906, of the usual

and deep blue-green color, bears the following

legend on the reverse: "Faneuil Hall, Boston, Mass.

Cradle of Liberty, 1742."

plates decorated with portraits of

measure 7 A inches and are deep blue-green

tesy of Frances Bryan Murray.
ington. Plates

71

George and Martha Washin color of decoration.

Cour-

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

72

102.

made

Advertising

plate,

for L. L. Millring.

7A
l

inches

in

Like most of the

rative plates, advertising plates

diameter,

commemo-

were decorated un-

L04.

An undated
in

advertising plate, 7 A inches and

l

the usual deep blue-green,

is

marked

on the reverse: "Compliments of 'The Home Furniture and Carpet Co.' / 412 & 414 Summit Street /
Toledo, Ohio."

This advertising plate, labeled "Main St." and

1905, was produced for the second

birthday of the Sweeney Company, Buffalo, N.Y.,

whose

der the glaze in deep blue-green.

decorated

103.

made around

store sign

Made

is

among

those that can be seen on

it.

for Bing and Nathan, Buffalo, N.Y., this

deep blue-green advertising plate reads on
the reverse: "Builders of happy homes, a dollar or
two will do."

105.

7'/2-inch,

HISTORICAL PLATES, COMMEMORATIVE, ADVERTISING WARES

106.

7!/2-inch' advertising plate

showing Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Penn., was made for Kat?mann's Store in Springville, N.Y.,
April

107.
clearly

1,

1907.

This advertising plate is

marked "The Locks, Lock-

port, N.Y."

"Old

The

reverse side reads:

Home Week,

July

24-30,

1910. Compliments of Beirlt Bros.

'Complete

Home

Furnishers.'

"

73

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

74

108.

scene

showing Jack Knife

Bridge, Buffalo, N.Y., decorates advertisplate that reads on the reverse:

"Compliments of George Krug, Sample
Room, 592 William St., Buffalo, N.Y."

ing

Commemorative mugs, both 4 A inches tall.

The one at left was made for the Independent Order
109.

of

Odd

Fellows; the one at right for Fraternal Order

of Eagles.

Decoration on mugs was always multi-

color.

110.

Three advertising mugs,

The one

made

all

4 A inches
l

tall.

Masonic order,
is white with blue decoration. The Buffalo Club mug
at left has gold lettering on a yellow background.
The Bing and Nathan mug is lettered in black on a
brown body, and bears a colorful picture of a friar
on the reverse side.
in the center,

for the

111.

A commemorative mug made

for

the Calumet Club of Buffalo, January 26,

1915. Decoration

is

black lettering against

blue and gold.

112.

Made for Beechland Farms, this

mug has brown decoration on a

3!/2-inch

white background.

A 4^-inch mug with decoration

green and brown against a white background. It is captioned "F.C. Orioles,
113.

in

#1 Broadway Auditorium

April 16-

27th, 1913." Courtesy of Mr.

A. Siepierski.

and Mrs.

Deldare

Ware

Connoisseurs of Buffalo Pottery readily agree that the most artistic

pieces produced by the firm were Deldare Ware. Today, these are not only
jealously cherished

and eagerly sought

for their originality of design but also

for their striking colors.

The
all

origin

and development

of

Deldare can be directly attributed to three men,

Rea, and Ralph Stuart. Bown, the

now deceased Louis Bown, William

first

general manager and vice-president of the pottery, dreamed of an art pottery

that

would lend prestige

to the

company and

of the English Staffordshire factories.

also

compete with the

fine

products

Rea, a ceramic engineer and the

first

superintendent of the pottery, was responsible for developing the Deldare body.

Although the body color was not called Deldare until 1908, Rea apparently had
been experimenting with the formula in earlier years. To achieve the distinctive
olive-green color, he devised a mixture whose main ingredients were English
Ball Clay and Tennessee Ball Clay, to which a certain percentage of oxide of
chrome was added. English Ball Clay was used in this formula because of its
natural color characteristic.

The authors have found Robin Hood

Landing of William Rogers

(111. 36), and Pilgrim (111. 40) pitchers in the Deldare body color dated 1906 and
1907. Although these pieces are not marked "Deldare," there is no question but
that they were made from the Deldare formula; the color is identical. The
decorative figures and scenes are outlined in black, but not filled in with the
colors so characteristic of Deldare. These pitchers are good evidence that Rea
had developed the Deldare body before 1908. It should be noted here that the
term "Deldare" pertains only to the solid body color of this ware, regardless of
(111.

41), the

the subject matter of the decoration. If chipped, a piece of Deldare appears the

same color throughout.

Cooperating with Rea in his quest for the Deldare body formula was George
H. Wood, who was superintendent of the clay shop at that time. Rea had
brought him from the Crescent Pottery in Trenton, New Jersey, in July, 1903.
First employed as a turner, Wood showed such ability and knowledge of
chemistry that he was rapidly advanced to the position of superintendent of the
clay shop. A man of numerous and diverse talents, in addition to being a potter
and chemist he was a chiropractor, musician, artist, author, and photographer.
Wood retired from the pottery at the same time as Rea, in 1927.
76

DELDARE WARE

77

The decorative scenes used on Deldare Fallowfield Hunt

example
appeared also years later (in the 1930s) on Colorido, Lune, Rouge, Cafe au
Lait, and Ye Old Ivory china. They were done in full color exactly as on Deldare
Ware, but these pieces are not, and should not be represented as, Deldare. They
are extremely attractive, nonetheless, and are regarded as choice items by
scenes, for

They are also very scarce.

The choice of these scenes used to decorate Deldare and the original drawing
of them was largely the work of Ralph Stuart. In a telephone interview, Mrs.
Stuart told the authors of the many nights her husband and Bown and Rea
collectors.

spent at the Buffalo Public Library, poring endlessly over books to find suitable
subjects that could be adapted for use on Deldare. Stuart doubtless

technical expertise of the others to aid

Stuart's, as well as his wife's, signature

The

him

in his choices.

can be found on

needed the
Ralph

(Incidentally,

many

pieces of Deldare.

greatest disappointment the authors suffered in their research

was the

word "Deldare." Various ideas as to

name have been suggested, but no substantiating evidence has
ever turned up. Dee Albert Gernet, in Spinning Wheel Magazine, March, 1963,
suggested that the name Deldare was derived from famous English decorative
failure to discover proof of the origin of the

the origin of the

lines such as Denholm, Devereaux, and Doulton. Another theory is that Deldare
was derived from Delia, the name of a daughter of an executive of the pottery.
Still another suggestion is that it was taken from the name of a street in Buffalo,
Delaware Avenue, which at that period was the most exclusive street in the city.
A fourth theory holds that the name was chosen because the originators considered the ware delicate, and therefore coined the word Deldare from "delicate."
Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. and Mrs. Franz Bach of
Amherst, New York. Mr. Bach, now retired, was manager of the Park Country
Club of Amherst, which used Buffalo Pottery products. For a housewarming gift
in 1941, Louis Bown invited the Bachs to select Deldare from ware that the
pottery had on display. The Bachs questioned him about the origin of the name,
and Mrs. Bach clearly remembers his reply, which was as follows: "My wife and
I were vacationing at a resort in the Delaware Water Gap in about 1907, and
while standing on the porch, looking down the picturesque Delaware River, I
was so awed with its beauty that an inspiration came to me to name the new
olive-green ware Deldare, after the Delaware Water Gap."
Before Mrs. Stuart died, she too expressed a belief that the word was derived
from "Delaware," but she thought it was the state of Delaware from which
"Deldare" came. Perhaps the Delaware derivation is the true one. However,
some of the other suggestions also have a degree of plausibility and, after all,
the complete and authentic story apparently was known only to the three originators of the ware, and is now buried with them.
The bulk of the early Deldare was made in the years 1908 and 1909, only one
design of Deldare being made in 1910. This was the 1910 calendar plate (111.
234), of which an extremely small quantity was made. Today it is considered a
choice collector's item and sells for upward of $200. All the early Deldare is
plainly marked with the Deldare trademark, and most pieces are also dated with

the year of manufacture.

completely

series

is

new and

perhaps the

the pottery, and

Deldare"

(Ills.

it

Deldare was introduced in 1911. This

and most sought-after of all the Deldare produced at

different type of

finest

commands

the highest prices.

179-222), and virtually every piece

It
is

was known

as

"Emerald

dated that year, 1911. This

Deldare is in very short supply. Anyone possessing a piece of the distinctive ware
most fortunate. Deldare was discontinued at the end of 1911, except for a
few experimental pieces and special orders, and not reissued for a dozen years.
As mentioned earlier, during World War I the pottery produced ware excluis

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

78
sively for the

Armed

Forces. After the war,

management was anxious

for the

former prestige, and so Deldare production was resumed in

1923, 1924, and 1925. Then production was discontinued once more. The cost of
manufacture had become exorbitant. Deldare was never produced again after
firm to regain

its

1925.

There is absolutely no difference between the Deldare made in 1908 and 1909
and that made after World War I (1923, 1924, 1925), except the date. Both issues
of Deldare were made of semivitreous china, from the same formula, and were
hand-decorated by the same method. In fact, some of the same artists worked on
both the late and early ware. Some collectors have found later pieces that they
consider inferior to the early ones, and so believe that all later Deldare is inferior
or made in a different manner. This is a fallacy. There is excellent work in both
series. When early and later pieces showing identical scenes are compared side
by side, no appreciable difference can be detected. Of course, one must take into
consideration the abilities of the individual decorators some pieces in both
early and late Deldare are superior to others of the same period.
Virtually every piece of Deldare made in the years mentioned bears on the
bottom its date of manufacture as well as the words "Made at Ye Buffalo
Pottery Deldare Ware Underglaze" (111. 20). A few pieces are found undated
or with the date practically illegible. This fault cannot be construed as detrimental
to the piece; rather, it merely indicates carelessness or an oversight on the part
of the employee responsible for applying the trademark. Conversely, some pieces
of Deldare are marked with two dates. For this, again, there is no explanation
except carelessness, unless perhaps a piece was made in one year and distributed
in another, and a second date added to indicate the year of distribution.
Emerald Deldare has its own distinguishing mark on the bottom: "Buffalo
Pottery Emerald Deldare Ware Underglaze" (111. 20) and the year 1911.
The discontinuance of Deldare Ware in 1911 and 1925 cannot be blamed on
a lack of artistic acceptance, but only on the extremely high cost of manufacture.
This can be readily understood. Each piece of Deldare was painstakingly handdecorated on top of the transfer print (111. 114), and the highest quality of work
was expected from each decorator. At the peak of Deldare production there was
a decorating force of not more than fifteen men and women; generally, the force
was smaller. A decorator could finish approximately two dozen dinner plates in
an eight-hour working day, a small output per worker.
If the decoration and quality of the wares were not up to the expected standard,
the pieces were classified as seconds, thirds, and even fourths, and sold at a
greatly reduced price. This practice naturally added to the price that had to be
put on the ware that was perfect in every way. Thus, when first-quality ware
reached the store, it was priced out of the reach of the average budget.
Deldare was sold at many leading stores throughout the country. Although
complete dinner sets were available, it was a widespread practice to buy only
a few pieces at a time because of the high price. A small teapot, for example,
sold for $10.00 in a department store at a time

considerably greater purchasing power than

much

it

when

that

sum represented
Ware was
special gift when

does now. Deldare

it was often given as a

was called for. In addition to dinner sets, Deldare
was made in tea sets that came with an extremely attractive rectangular tray and
a round tea tile. There were also a dresser set with tray, and vases, drinking
sets, pitchers of various sizes, chocolate sets, and numerous other pieces.
The assumption is that Deldare was conceived as a probable Larkin premium.
However, this objective was not realized at the beginning. Not until the Larkin
fall/winter catalog of 1922-1923 was Deldare offered as a premium for the first
and only time. Since the response was not as enthusiastic as had been expected,

regarded with so

something particularly

respect that

fine

DELDARE WARE

79

The lukewarm public reception of the Deldare premium

blamed on the pictorial deficiencies of the catalog presentation,
which was entirely in black and white, though the color of the ware was clearly
it

was not

may

listed again.

possibly be

described

To

in the text.

(See

115 for the catalog page offering Deldare.)

111.

a very limited extent, Deldare

was used

in hotels

and restaurants

(111.

236),

but the pieces were not embellished with the usual English-type decoration. The
design or

monogram chosen by

the particular firm

was used

as decoration instead.

DELDARE DECORATIONS
The distinctive appeal of Deldare Ware stems for the most part from the
unusual color combinations of the vivid decorative scenes against the delicate
olive-green body tone. However, the brilliant, lucid overglaze adds much to the
beauty of the ware. This apparently nondeteriorating glaze has preserved the
Deldare scenes in prime condition on most pieces.
The year 1908 saw the introduction of the Fallowfield Hunt scenes on Deldare,
which were reproduced from the colored scenes drawn by the renowned English
artist

Cecil Charles

(Two

of these are

Windsor
shown in

Aldin,
Ills.

who was born

in

1870 and died in 1935.

117 and 119). The. Fallowfield

portrayed the sequence of an English fox hunt, with the following

Hunt

titles:

series

"Break-

"The Dash," "Breaking Cover," "The

Hunt Supper," and "At the
The
scenes
and
colors
of
the
original
prints were faithfully
Three Pigeons."
executed on Deldare. The Fallowfield Hunt was done only on Deldare dated
1908 and 1909. Postwar pieces have never been found with this decor.
According to information supplied by the British Museum, the Fallowfield Hunt
scenes done by Cecil Aldin were not made originally as illustrations for a book.
Apparently the prints were published individually as decorative items and sold
for framing they are frequently to be found on the walls of country houses and
inns. The authors have personally seen four framed Aldin prints, each one bearing his uniquely written signature, along with the date 1900 and "copyrighted by
Richard Wyman and Co. Limited, 16 Bedford St., Strand, London, W.C. Goffart
fast at the

Three Pigeons," "The

Start,"

Fallowfield Hunt," "The Death," "The Return," "The

Printers, Brussels."

Scenes of English village

life

in

"Ye Olden Days"

(Ills.

138-169) were also

introduced as a Deldare decoration in 1908. They were used on 1909 wares as

well and the postwar (1923, 1924, 1925) pieces of Deldare. All aspects and
of village life were depicted "Ye Village Gossips," "Street Scenes,"
"Dancing Ye Minuet," "Ye Town Crier," "Ye Village Tavern," "Ye Lion Inn,"
"Ye Village Parson," "Ye Village Schoolmaster," "Ye Olden Days," "Traveling in
Ye Olden Days," and many others. The source of many of the English scenes is
not known. Some came from books such as Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield
and Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford. For example, a 6-inch tea tile titled "Traveling in
Ye Olden Days" ( 111. 140 bears the same scene as appears in a Cranford illustration drawn by Hugh Thomson. In the book the scene is titled "Implored the
Chairman."
Many of the phrases that appear on Deldare scenes "To Spare an Old Broken
Soldier," "His Manner of Telling Stories," "To Advise Me in a Whisper," "All you
have to do to teach the Dutchman English," and others can be found in The
Vicar of Wakefield. However, none of these was found illustrated by a drawing
in any of the many editions of The Vicar the authors examined at numerous
libraries and museums. It is possible that these scenes are original illustrations
by Buffalo Pottery artists, but evidence to substantiate that possibility remains

features

elusive.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

80

"Ye Lion Inn," a series of English tavern scenes (Ills. 170-178), was depicted
on Deldare in each of the various years that Deldare was produced, both the
early and late issues.
Much of the Emerald Deldare (Ills. 179-222) was decorated with Dr. Syntax
scenes. The humorous verses about Dr. Syntax and the vivid illustrations date
from early in the nineteenth century when (between 1812 and 1821) they were
issued as Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, Tour of Dr. Syntax in
Search of Consolation, and Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of a Wife. The original
Dr. Syntax caricatures were painted in watercolors by Thomas Rowlandson; the
verses that went with them were written by William Combe. Rowlandson is
said to have sent one scene a month to Combe, who was in debtors' prison (he
was often there), so that Combe could write appropriate doggerel to go with it;
the two men did not meet during this time.
Dr. Syntax scenes were first reproduced on dishes very early shortly after the
Rowlandson drawings appeared in print when Clews used them in a lustrous
dark blue. The very first Dr. Syntax scenes reproduced on Buffalo wares were
also done in blue (Ills. 362 and 363). Dated 1909, these dishes have great
similarity to the Staffordshire pieces.

In general, the Dr. Syntax scenes used on Emerald Deldare have been reproduced with a reasonable accuracy, though the artists who copied them from the
original books for use at the pottery took some liberties sometimes altering the
minor details in a scene, often introducing oddities of punctuation and spelling
into the verses, and also using some variations from the original coloring. To
most collectors of Emerald Deldare, these evidences of the individuality of the
artist are no detriment.
Incidentally, it is Deldare with Art Nouveau borders that is called Emerald

Deldare.

Though

the various borders of this kind are similar to one another,

alike. The border motifs on Emerald Deldare are

sometimes entirely geometric (111. 202). At other times geometries are combined
with natural objects such as flowers, leaves, and butterflies, and various flowing
lines and forms (111. 185). Emerald Deldare pieces not bearing a Dr. Syntax

they are by no means exactly

scene

may be

border

(111.

decoration
It is

not

totally Art

197).

(111.

And

Nouveau
in

many

in

character the central design as well as the

instances a piece

had

all-over Art

Nouveau

194).

known

for certain

how

the

name Emerald Deldare came

to

be chosen

but the predominance of green in the decoration no doubt

was an influential factor. Emerald Deldare has its own distinguishing trademark
to identify this ware,

on each piece, along with the date, which was nearly always 1911 (111. 20). For
some unexplained reason, there are a very few rare pieces with a different date.
One such piece, a jardiniere dated 1910, is shown in 111. 187. Besides the short
period of manufacture, another reason for the scarcity of Emerald Deldare is
that even fewer pieces were produced than might have been expected in that
length of time because the decorations were more time-consuming to do than the
conventional Deldare decorations. Nonetheless, today's avid collector canwith
patience find a piece or two of Emerald Deldare to add to his collection.

DELDARE DECORATORS
Although formally trained artists such as Ralph Stuart and Robert Helmich
both supervised others and painted Deldare themselves, most of the decorators

had no formal training. Helmich, a German ceramic artist, designer, engraver,

and printer, was always spoken of with much respect by fellow workmen, who

DELDAKE WARE

81

He had

greatly admired his varied talents.

later

worked

in

served an apprenticeship

English potteries, and then at Shenango Pottery

in

in

Germany,

New

Castle,

Pennsylvania, before coming to Buffalo Pottery, where apprentices with artistic

were taught

ability

very low wages;

work

work on Deldare. Buffalo Pottery apprentices were paid

they graduated to journeymen, they worked on a pieceand 1909, a top-notch ceramic artist paid on that basis could
to

when

basis. In 19()8

about $12.00 a week.

work in the morning, each one was given a

attain the magnificent salary of

When

the decorators reported for

stack of biscuit Deldare to be

decorated

(111.

114).

The number

of pieces

day depended on the artist's speed and ability, the size of the
and the intricacy of the design. A decorator worked on several pieces at
one time, doing the darkest colors first and the lightest ones last. There was,
however, no wait between the application of the various colors, and it took
considerable skill on the part of the decorators to keep the paints from running
together. Deldare artists had the responsibility of mixing their own colors; this
they did by blending a powder base of color with turpentine or fat oil. When
decorated

in a

pieces,

the color applications were completed, the pieces were stacked on

smearing the paint; then they were

firing,

stilts

to avoid

fired in a kiln to set the colors. After the

they were taken from the kiln for glazing, then refired.

Each
pattern.

was put on a Deldare piece according to a

The only latitude the decorator had was in painting
color

rigidly

prescribed

the white clouds

these he could put in at his discretion.

The artist's name or initials can be found on practically every piece of Deldare.
The earlier pieces were usually marked with initials only, but as the work force
grew and there was more than one employee with the same initials, the decorators
were required to sign their names. Curiously this signing had nothing to do with
in one's work. Rather, it pointed out the identity of any
whose work was not up to the usual high standards. Many of the signatures
legible and can be easily read; others are practically illegible, extremely hard

having a sense of pride

artist

are

to decipher

because of the decorators' idiosyncrasies in applying them. Some of

Anna Delaney ( Mrs.

the earliest decorators of Deldare M. Gerhardt, Lita Palmer,

Ralph Stuart), Helen Biddle, and Kathleen Caird graciously provided the authors with considerable information about this ware.

Below
Ware:

is

A. B.
A.

list

and signatures that have been found on Deldare

of the initials

G. B.

W.

L. B.

G. H. K.

L. P.

G. H.
G. M.

M. G.
M. H.

C. A.

G. O.

R. S.

C. B.

G. R.

R.

C. D.

H. B.

T. N.

H. M. B.

W.
W.

B. S.
B.

D.

W.

W.

S.

K. E. K.

E. B.

F.

W.
E.
F.

K. E. S.

Turpentine that has been allowed to evaporate

mixed with

it

partially, so that

before application will not run together.

it

becomes

thicker. Colors

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

82

ANNA

L.

G. H.

E.
E.

DOWMAN

R.

M.

J.

J.

O.

STILLER
L. STREISSEL

MUNSON
NAKOLK

L.

STUART
TARDY
R.

NEWMAN

M.

PALMER
M. RAMLIN
W. RAMLUS
G. REATH
L.

FARDY
FORD
W. FOSTER
H.

GERHARDT
M. GERHARDT
P. HALL

H.

J.

A.

J.

L.WIL

ROTH
F. ROWLEY

J. WILSON
WILTON
R. WINDSOR

M.

A.

E.

HLUMNE
P. HOLLAND

O.

SAUTER
SHAFER

N.

SHEEHAN

M.

B.

L.WIT

HONES
This

is

THOMPSON

WADE

WAYSON
WHITFORD
WIGLEY

ROBIN

HARRIS

SNED or M. SNEDEKER
SOUTER

M. STEINER

MISSEL

E.
L.

CAIRD
DITMARS

M.

JONE

KATON
KEKOLA
A. LANG
F.MAC
ED J. MARS

BRON

M.
K.

SIMPSON
SIMPSON
W. E. SIMPSON

JENTSHI

A.

BALL
G. BEATTY
L. BERKS
H. BIDDLE
M. BIDDLE
E. BROEL
M. BROEL
H.

not a complete listing of decorators, nor

R.

VAISE

N.

VOGT

is

it

certain that there

is

not

names and initials. For example, "H. B." may be the same
person as "H. Ball," or "E. B." and "E. Broel" may be one person.
Any piece of Deldare decorated in other than Old English scenes is commonly
known as a Deldare Special (Ills. 223 and 227). Such pieces have the Deldare
body, but vary widely in subject matter, design, and form. For the most part,
they are rarer than regular Deldare. In many cases, they are not even marked
with the usual Deldare mark, but most are dated and carry "Buffalo Pottery" on
the bottom. The dates also differ to some extent from the dates on regular
Deldare. Dates of 1907, 1910, 1914 are to be found on some of the items.
No records remain to tell why these pieces were produced, but our studies
lead us to believe that they were made by special request. Many people who own

some duplication

of

a Deldare Special piece believe that theirs

is

one of a kind, though

we have

seen

dup'icates of most such items. Some, no doubt, were one of a kind in decor-

done

as

whim of an executive or an important

was by no means uncommon for an artist to design and decorate

an experiment or

customer. Also,

it

a piece of Deldare or

own

to satisfy the

any other Buffalo pottery with an original pattern of

his

creation, in his spare time perhaps.

All the special items

known

to the authors

are pictured in this book, but

and will come to light in the future. Among the

known specials are the Days of the Week plates (Ills. 224 and 225), the Lost
plate (111. 220), Indian Scenes mug (111. 231), and the Sailor Humidor (111. 227).
So few of these special creations have been found and so great is the demand for
them that they are priced as high as the finest of antiques today.
doubtless

many more

exist

Although many people believe it is only in recent years that Buffalo pottery
and Deldare in particular have reached such a peak of recognition, this idea
is entirely erroneous. The excerpts that follow are taken from articles written in
1910 and 1913 respectively, only two of many articles that could be cited to
illustrate the esteem in which the firm and its wares were held in its own day.

DELDARE WARE
The

83

taken from "Live Wire," published by the Journal of

merce, Niagara Area:
first

excerpt

is

Com-

DELDARE ART WARE

Comparatively few Buffalonians know that pottery is manufactured on a large
this city. It is quite probable that there are more people outside of
Buffalo who know of and value the products of this particular industry than
within the city limits. Besides manufacturing the ordinary lines of pottery, suitable for home and hotel use, it has gained distinction by several of its art and
scale in

decorative

lines.

This concern the Buffalo Pottery was the

first to manufacture, in America,

Another class of decorated ware is that which illustrates
the three tours of Dr. Syntax
created and made famous by Rowlandson, the
famous English caricaturist. The
Buffalo concern is now manufacturing
a large number of these pieces, and some of the best critics say they are equal to
the originals [obviously, the Clews Dr. Syntax plates].
The Buffalo Pottery is entitled to still greater distinction through the manufacture of what is called its "Deldare Ware." This is considered by those who know
to be a distinct addition to American ceramics. It is an entirely original produc-

Blue Willow Ware.

tion, so artistic in

every detail that

it

has attracted the favorable attention of

leading pottery experts. Moreover, a Buffalonian, traveling in Great Britain a few

months ago, accidentally discovered that one of the leading potteries of that
country was attempting to copy "Deldare Ware." When the English superintendent was questioned about it, he said that, so far as he knew, it was the first
case on record where an English or French potter had ever attempted to copy
any American design or particular kind of ware. This fact is of great significance
and one in which every Buffalonian can take a natural pride.
Among the series of decorations is the famous "Fallowfield Hunt." Four scenes
are used: "The Hunt Breakfast at the Three Pigeons," "The Hunt," "The Death,"
"The Dinner After the Hunt." The decorations are Old English in effect, all the
costumes, attitudes and characters being those of from 1700 to 1800. Many of the
Old English books have been searched for ideas and quaint illustrations. Some
of these are illustrative of famous English classics, such as The Vicar of Wakefield, "Miss Mattie in the Sedan Chair," in Cranford, and other subjects. The
Brooklyn Eagle said

"The picturesque interiors of 'Ye Olde Lion Inn,'

on are made decorative centers for some of the pieces.
It is hard to realize their unusual attractiveness without seeing them."
A new line of Deldare is now being worked up for next year. Its illustrative
features will include the Dr. Syntax tours in underglazed colors greens, browns,
yellows and whites.
'Ye Village Tavern'

The second

editorially:

and

article,

About a mile

was titled "My Trip Through

was published by the Larkin Company in 1913.

written by Marion Harland,

the Larkin Factory." It

Buffalo Pottery.

so

east of the factories, Larkin

It is

modern and complete

Company owns and

operates the

in every respect. Electricity

here on a larger scale than in any other pottery in the country.

is

used

The grounds cover

seven acres.
I

was

told that the

Company

and equip one,

quality by maintaining
to erect

to

did not want to build a pottery, but was forced

prevent delays in delivery, and give

a fixed standard

its

and protecting them from

customers best
inferior

work-

manship.

Three hundred men and women are employed here. Beginning with domestic
and imported clays, and ending with finished wares, everything is made under

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

84
these roofs.

Pottery

The output

Ware

includes a large variety of sets and pieces, for Buffalo

has an enviable reputation. There

is a fine line of Tea, Dinner, and

Ware, in underglaze and overglaze semi-vitreous porcelain. Results here
obtained have not been surpassed by other American potteries.
The Deldare Ware made here is a valuable addition to the ceramic art, and
appeals strongly to collectors and to those who want the best. Its body is olive
green, of a peculiarly pleasing shade. It is easy to make a colored glaze on a white
background, but this exceptional ware shows olive green throughout. That result
is far more difficult to obtain. All the decorations are hand worked. As they are
laid on in flat colors under the glaze, rich and attractive effects are obtained. I
saw an array of quaint, artistic shapes in plates, tankards, pitchers, teapots, trays,
steins, and bowls. Some of its unusual wares are bought by the most prominent

Toilet

Company operates the Pottery chiefly for customers'

made the first Blue Willow ware manufactured in

firms in the country, but the

use.

Here, in 1905, was

fidelity, and the decorations

and clear. Being under the glaze they are durable. Prior to 1905, all
Blue Willow ware used in this country had to be imported from England. Those

America. Originals are daily reproduced with absolute

are sharp

who own

this porcelain

should acquaint themselves with the interesting love-tale

that gave rise to the pattern.

It

motif makes the dainty service

will
all

be sent

the

more

to all

who

ask for

it.

To know

its

saw many beautiful

decorations; also the famous Dr.

interesting.

examples of ware in gold and other attractive

Syntax's designs, which first appeared in the old blue Staffordshire (England)
china, now so rare. These designs are done here in Emerald Deldare, and for all
practical purposes are good substitutes for originals, whose plates sell at Forty
Dollars,
ica's

and

platters at

Three Hundred Dollars.

leading jewelry firm, for the

of Buffalo Pottery

always refused

to

Deldare ware

is

first

time in

It is

its

a significant fact that

history, recently

and porcelain departments. Before

carry any American ware in stock.

ware

for its china

Amer-

bought a
this, it

fine

had

its beauty of color and interesting

high investment value. At the same time that it is

treasured not only for

decoration but also for

its

adding to the charm of any room where it is displayed, it is also increasing in

value at the rate of 30 to 50 percent a year. This trend has remained consistent
for approximately six or seven years, with no sign of diminishing.

114.

An

old

photo-

graph, dated 1909,

showing

an

employee

hand decorating
-

Deldare
tesy of
kin, Jr.

Ware. CourHarry H. Lar-

DELDARE WARE

85

F-

,?,.

_
the

in

ir

'

.11

ilnl

Ixittiiln

lli-

iii-

ilnllli

iround the b
,i

'X

I.il

H.-lv-tt;.,'

Hrighl. Ii

'''-

IIXui

that matchheax y sub-tant i..l Tumbler

bottom.

.{III

Mis

.
'

dpacit)

<

wt.

lb*

Ware

Deldare

Jug
$
I

Salad Bowl
4358 C.1VKN with
.

in

of

ia

v!

ui
uts. etc.

It

Mailing weight

' l

i.>

purcMas.

^K'V'

$6

< Producf

tin-

'

VS

i"

l,
!

tm?2

;,

decorated

ground.

in

'"';""^

7
,

Ck

.Mn.(

lbs.

Cups and Saucer*

4357

GIVEN

with

$10

purchase ot Products or for

$10 in Coupons.
will
Tnese Cups and Sa

.(

(>

height, saucers, o

LARKIN

PREMIUMS

>(
'

in.

'

II

cops,
i.
Dtiametet n
Ml.; wt "? lbs

$10 pur$10 In

[*heee

the lour

Diameter

Tea-Plate*

rhaiw Of Products or for

Coupon-.

famish that delightful finishing

touch

Six

4356 GIVEN with

j,

,ui

iffered tep irai in the lour u

["he plates ire S 'i in

i.m

much

tiling

wr-eighl

GIVEN WITH PURCHASES OF PRODUCTS Kgg'fSo

Deldare was offered

the only time Deldare

in the

Larkin fall-winter catalog of 1922-1923. This was

was ever shown

in

any catalog. Courtesy

116.

of

Harry H. Larkin,

Jr.

Salesman's sample Del-

dare plate, dated 1908.

J-

ouWm)

Height.

in. in

Set of Six

115.

!"

Full)

which*
Wl "I.

'

GIVEN H h

9** in toupotu.

$6 pur-

Products or (or
Coupons.

h..H,-

Till. II

"I

86

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

117.

inches)
scene,
per,"

framed print (18 by 28

of

done

in

Hunt

Fallowfield

the

known

"The Hunt Sup1900 by the English

as

illustrator Cecil Aldin.

This

is

only

one of many Aldin scenes reproduced on Deldare. Note Aldin's

unique signature in the lower-right
corner. Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs.
John W. Prout.

118.

In the center

is

a 12!/2-inch

tankard-type pitcher decorated with

same scene shown

Most of the details of
the

lowfield

Hunt

scenes

in

111.

117.

Aldin's Fal-

were

care-

reproduced on Deldare. The

tankard is signed "M. Caird." The
two mugs, both 4 A inches tall and
dated 1909, bear the title "The
Fallowfield Hunt." They are signed,
respectively, by M. Gerhardt and
J. Gerhardt, who were sisters. M.
Gerhardt is still alive.
fully

DELDARE WARE

87

Another Cecil Aldin print,

and date as the print in
111.
117. This one is called "The
Breakfast at the Three Pigeons."
Again, note Aldin's signature. Cour119.

same

size

tesy of Dr.

and Mrs. John W.

120.

rated

with a copy of the

shown

in

Prout.

12-inch wall plaque deco-

111.

Fallowfield

scene

119 and labeled "The

Hunt Breakfast

at the

Three Pigeons." The plaque is

dated 1908 and signed "N. Sheehan."

88

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

121.

Dated 1908,

14-inch chop plate

this

is

labeled "The Fallowfield Hunt, the Start," and

signed (on the front)

"J.

Gerhardt."

Group

122.

mugs.

The

of Fallowfield

three

ones

larger

Hunt Deldare
(from

left

right) are described as follows: 3\4 inches

to

tall,

1909, "Breaking Cover," signed by R. Caird;

4!/2

inches

tall,

1908, "At the Three Pigeons,"

signed by E. Ditmars; 3 A inches

l

tall,

1909,

"Breaking Cover," signed by B. Wilton. The

two small mugs both measure 2V4 inches. The

one at left, titled "The Fallowfield Hunt" and
dated 1909, is signed by F. Mac. The one at
right, dated 1924 and unsigned, is called
"Scenes of Village Life in Ye Olden Days."

Signed by L. Streissel and dated 1909,

Deldare plate is titled "The Fallowfield Hunt, The Death."
123.

this 8!/2-inch

DELDARE WARE

124.

Deldare

diameter,

plate,

is titled

10 inches in

"The Fallowfield

Hunt, Breaking Cover." It is dated

1909 and signed by H. Biddle.

125.

deep.

126.

dare

Octagon-shaped, 8-inch Delpitcher

is

dated

1909

and

signed by P. Hall. Title (near the

bottom)

reads:

The

Hunt, The Beturn.

Fallowfield

Nine-inch Deldare bowl

"The Fallowfield Hunt, the

Death" is dated 1909 and signed
by W. Foster. Bowl is 2V* inches
titled

90

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

129.

Deldare calling-card tray 7 3A inches in diameter,

titled "The Fallowfield Hunt." Tray is

dated 1908 and

signed by O. Sauter. Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie

County Historical

is shaped similarly to the one

126 and bears the same date, but the signature is
illegible. Title (near the bottom) reads: "The Fallowfield
Hunt, Breaking Cover."

127.

in

Society.

This 10-inch pitcher

111.

titled "The Falby Ed. J. Mars. (Second cup is

same as first but turned to show opposite side.) Courtesy
of Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

128.

Deldare cups and a saucer, 1909,

lowfield Hunt." Signed

DELDAHE WARE

Nine-inch Deldare soup plate dated

1909 and signed by E. Dowman. The title is
"The Fallowfield Hunt, Breaking Cover."
130.

91

131.

Titled

simply

"Breaking

Cover,"

is

County Historical

Society.

M. Bron signed this 6 2-inch Deldare

plate titled "The Fallowfield Hunt." Date is
1909. Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County

this

Historical Society.

Fallowfield Hunt, the Start." Date

132.

this

dated 1909 and signed by

R. Windsor. Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie
5-inch sauce dish

133.

Signed only with the

9!4-inch Deldare plate

initials
is

"M.H.F.,"

labeled
is

"The

1908.

92

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

134.
sugar,

Unsigned Deldare six-sided open

1908, decorated with an uncap-

tioned Fallowfield

bowl

135.

is

Hunt

Width

of

Deldare

inches,

and

dish,

relish

signed by A. Lang.
61/2

scene.

4 inches; height, 3 A inches.

is

1909,

was

It

measures 12 by

titled

"The Fallowfield

Hunt, the Dash." Courtesy of Alice Herr-

mann

Antiques.

Unsigned Deldare bowl measuring

5 inches deep, and
dated 1909. Title is "The Fallowfield
Hunt, Breakfast at the Three Pigeons."
Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John W. Prout.
136.

12 inches across,

DELDARE WARE

93

Deldare

137.

punch

fusely decorated with

Fallowfield

scenes.

It

pro-

of the

meas-

14 s/i inches in diameter and

ures
9!/4

Hunt

bowl

many

inches in height, and

1909.

Signature

is

"W.

is

dated

Foster."

Courtesy of Mrs. Walter B. Rohb.

138.
Deldare tea pieces, each one bearing the title "Scenes of Village Life in Ye
Olden Days." The creamer, dated 1924, is signed "G.H.S." Small teapot, dated 1909, is
3 3/4 inches high, and is signed "CD." Covered sugar, dated 1925, is signed "G.H.S."
Here, early and late pieces bearing the same title can be compared.

94

139.
Larger (5 3A inches) Deldare teapot than the
one shown in 111. 138, but bearing the same caption
though decorated with different scenes. This one is
dated 1924 and signed "G.H.S."

140.

6-inch Deldare tea

tile

dated 1924, signed "T.H.,"

and titled "Traveling in Ye Olden Days." The scene

from an illustration by Hugh Thomson in Cranford.

Deldare tea tray, 12 by 10 A inches, is dated 1908. The decorator's signature

("W. Foster") can be seen at bottom left and the title of the scene ("Heirlooms") at
bottom right.
141.

is

taken

95

142.

the

This 10-inch Deldare plate, dated 1908, bears

title

"Ye Village Gossips" and the decorator's

sig-

nature ("M. Snediker").

143.
All three pieces of the Deldare dresser set,
dated 1909, are decorated with village scenes. Left:

Covered powder jar, signed by J. Gerhardt, is titled

"Ye Village Street." Center: Pin tray, 6>4 by 3'/2
inches, is signed with the initials "E.B." and titled
"Ye Olden Days." Right: Hair receiver, titled "Ye
Village Street," is unsigned. (Another dresser set is
shown in Ills. 237 and 238.

144.
is

1909 Deldare dresser

signed by M. Harrison.

tray,

9 by 12 inches,

is

titled

"Dancing Ye Minuet"

anc

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

96

145.

scene

Wade signed this 1908 Deldare plate.

"Ye Olden Times. Diameter is 9 A inches.

R.
is

Title of

146.

An

8V4-inch Deldare plate dated 1908 and bearing

a scene titled "Ye

Town

Crier."

The

initials

"E.B." appear

at the right.

147.
Scene titled "Ye Village Street" decorates a 7>/4-inch
Deldare plate that is also dated 1908. Signature: "O. Sauter." Courtesy of John A. Navagh.
148.

Ten-inch Deldare cake plate (1909) with "Ye Vilis "E. Dowman." Cour-

lage Gossips." Signature (at right)

tesy of Mr.

and Mrs. Pat

Cutini.

DELDARE WARE

97

"Ye Olden Times" scene decorates the 8>/2-by-6 /2shown here. Date is
1909 and signature is "H. Ford." Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs.
l

149.

inch Deldare open vegetable server

150.
Deldare teacup and saucer with title "Ye Olden
Days" on saucer only. Date is 1909. Signature on saucer is
"J. Nekolk"; on cup, "G. H. Jone."

Pat Cutini.

"Ye Olden Times" Deldare relish tray measures 12

inches. Date is 1908; signature (at right), "W.
Foster." Courtesy of Alice Herrmann Antiques.
151.

by

6!/2

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

98

152.

(depth

9-inch Deldare fruit bowl

is

3 3/i

inches)

bears

the

"Ye Village Tavern." It is dated

1908 and signed by H. Ford.

title

153.

Deldare fern bowl measures

is dated

8 inches in diameter and

1924. Title is "Ye Village Street,"

and signature, "G. Beatty." Originally, this bowl contained a ce-

ramic

insert

to

hold

the

plant.

Courtesy of Frank L. Withee.

154.

61/2-inch

cereal

Deldare, dated 1908.

bowl

Initials

in

"H.

B." appear at center right. Title is

"Ye Olden Days." Courtesy of Ada

Jane Corbett.

9>/2 inches in height, dated 1909 and 1925

Both are untitled, but one at left is signed with initials
"W.F." and one at right with "E.B." Some candlesticks (note the one
at right ) were made with a hole in the side or base for electric wiring,

156.

Deldare candlesticks,

respectively.

for conversion into lamps.

155.
Deldare combination matchbox holder
and ashtray is dated 1925 and signed with the

measures 6 A inches long, 3!4

inches high. Title is "Scenes of Village Life in
Ye Olden Days."
initials

"E.B."

It

DELDARE WARE

99

158.
Front view of the shieldback candlestick shown in 111. 157.

159.
Combination candleholder
and match holder 5'/2 inches in
height. Scene is untitled, but this
Deldare piece is dated 1909 and
signed by B. Wilton. Courtesy of

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Cutini.

157.

Shield-back

Deldare,

candlestick

inches

tall,

1909 and signed with the

of

dated

is

initials

"G.R.", but does not bear a

title.

Courtesy of

Ada

(See

111.

158.)

Jane Corbett.

160.

Untitled Deldare vase deco-

rated with a village scene of by-

gone days. Height

is

9 inches; date,

1909.

measuring
a dated
(1909) but unsigned
piece of Deldare. Scene
facing viewer is titled
"Ye Village Parson"; on
161.

8'/2

Vase

inches

is

is
"Ye Village
Schoolmaster." Courtesy of the Vogel family.

reverse

100

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

162.
An undated, untitled, 8-inch
Deldare vase signed with the initials

"B.S."

On

the reverse side

highly fashionable

is

man and woman.

The authors have seen two other

vases like this one, both also undated. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

163.

Deldare chocolate

set,

with

date 1909 and scene titled "Ye Village

inches

Street."
tall

Six-sided

and

is

pot

is

signed "Stiller."

Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie

County Historical

Society.

DELDAHE WARE

101

Tankard-type Deldare pitcher,

is dated 1908 and
signed by M. Broel. Each side has a different scene, with tides taken from The
164.

inches in height,

12'/2

Vicar of Wakefield. Facing the camera

do

"All

you have

man

English"; on the other side

to

to

is

teach the Dutchis

"The

Great Controversy." The 3'/2-inch mugs,

signed by E. Dowman, are identified as

"Ye Lion Inn."

165.

Six-inch

1923,

The

is

title

Telling

Deldare

signed with the

shown

Stories";

is

pitcher,
initials

"Their

other

dated

"G.H.S."

Manner

side

is

of

titled

"Which He Returned with a Curtsey"

(both quoted from The Vicar of Wakefield).

166.

Seven-inch octagon-sided Deldare

pitcher dated 1923 and titled (one side)

"To

Spare

an

Old,

Broken

(other side) "To Advise

Me

Soldier";

Whis(Both are quoted from The Vicar

of Wakefield.) Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs.
Pat Cutini.

per."

in a

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

102

167.

Dated 1908 and signed

"P. Hall," this 9-inch

eight-sided Deldare pitcher bears (facing side) the

"With a cane Superior air" and (opposite side)

Amazed Me" (both quoted from The Vicar of
Wakefield) Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County
title

"This

Historical Society.

169.
Deldare jardiniere 8 inches in diameter and
6 inches high is dated 1909. It was signed by P.
Hall. Title is "Ye Village Street." Courtesy of Mr.

and Mrs. Ralph

170.

Stuart.

M. Sned signed this 14-inch Deldare chop

and titled "An Evening at Ye Lion

plate dated 1909

Inn." Holes drilled through the bottom rim

possible to

hang the

plate.

make

it

168.
Undated 8-inch Deldare pitcher with the title
"To demand my annual Rent" on the side facing the
camera, and "Welcome Me with most Cordial Hospitality" on the opposite side (both quoted from The

Vicar of Wakefield)

DELDARE WARE

103

171.

Twelve-inch Deldare plaque dated 1909

title "Ye Lion Inn." Plaque bears the

has the

signature of P. Hall.

172.

Deldare

inches diameter)

Ye Lion

bread-and-butter
is

plate

dated 1924 and

Inn." Signature

is

(6>4

titled

"At

"E. Broel."

Deldare calling-card tray, also with the

"Ye Lion Inn." Date is 1909 and signature "L. Newman." Courtesy of the Buffalo
and Erie County Historical Society.
173.

title

174.

Octagon-shaped

Deldare

humidor, 7
Date is

inches in height.

1909; signature, "E.B.";

title,

175.

Unsigned Del-

dare. nut
|

bowl,

dated
"Ye Lion

1909,

titled

Inn."

Diameter is 8
depth is 3 A

inches;
inches.

"Ye Lion Inn."

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

104

Deldare pitcher dated 1909. Reverse side is

simply "Ye Lion Inn." Signature is "H.
Steiner." Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John W.

Deldare tankard, 6 5A inches high and

is
titled "Ye Lion
Inn." Other side is "Ye Old English Village."
This piece bears the initials "W.F." The white
lining is an unusual characteristic that is found

Trout.

on few pieces of Deldare.

176.

"Ye Olde English Village" appears on

177.

dated 1924. Facing side

the facing side of this 10-inch octagon-shaped

titled

178.
is

Identical 4!4-inch Deldare

1908;

title,

mugs placed

"Ye Lion Inn." Signature

is

so that both sides can

"M. Gerhardt." Courtesy

of

be viewed. Date

Ada Jane

Corbett.

^1
hi

*'
.-

'

Emerald Deldare tea pieces, 1911. Covered sugar (unsigned), titled "Dr. Syntax
wrong lodging house," reads "But with his day,s fatigue oppress, d / Syntax
begged leave go to rest." (See the caption for 111. 207.) Three-inch creamer, likewise
unsigned, bears the title "Dr. Syntax with the dairymaid," / and reads: "Come here
179.

in

the

me

your cares he softly said." "Dr. Syntax disputing his

on the teapot, above the lines: "And for your beef
and beer and tea / You kindly charged me one pound three!" On the reverse side of
the teapot appears "Dr. Syntax copying the wit of the window." Courtesy of Mr. and
sweet

bill

girl

don't be afraid / Tell

with the landlady"

is

the

title

Mrs. Pat Cutini.

(1911) measures 13% by 10'/4 inches. Signature is

is "Dr. Syntax mistakes a gentleman's house for an
inn." The verse reads: "Thus Syntax ate and drank his fill, / Regardless of tomorrow's
bill, / He rang the bell and called the waiters, / To rid him of his shoes and gaiters."
180.

Emerald Deldare

"R. Stuart."

The

title

tea tray

of the scene

Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Pat Cutini.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

106

Two

identical Emerald Deldare cups and a saucer, signed by M. Ramlin. Cup is

Syntax at Liverpool," and reads: "And soon a person we address'd, / Whose
paunch projected from his breasts." Cup is signed with the initials "L.N." Saucer bears
the title: "Doctor Syntax and the Bookseller." The verse reads: "My errand was to bid

181.

titled "Dr.

you look

With

And tell me whether you think fit / To

"M. Ramlin." Courtesy of John A. Navagh.

care and candour on this book: /

buy, or print, or publish

it."

Signature

is

182.
tea

Emerald

Six-inch

tile,

1911.

The

title is

Deldare
"Doctor

Syntax / Taking possession of his

The fines read: "At length,
dear wife," he said, "we're come /
To our appointed, tranquil home."
living."

H. Robin signed
of Dr.

this tile.

Courtesy

and Mrs. John W. Prout.

DELDARE WARE

107

183.
Octagon-shaped Emerald Deldare fruit
bowl and matching tray 14 inches long. Bowl
is 6 3/ inches high and 10 inches in diameter.
Decoration is completely Art Nouveau, a combination of floral and geometric motifs. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

"Dr.

184.
title

on

this

(Depth

The

Syntax reading his

crept

Two beautiful peacocks decorate the inbottom of an Emerald Deldare fruit bowl
(1911), which measures 5 inches deep and
12*4 inches in diameter. Courtesy of June Sal-

vatore.

is

the

bowl.

is "M. Broel."
"Each hearer, as th' infection
O'er th numb'd sense, unconscious

is

3Vi inches.) Signature

The cobbler yawn'd, then sunk

His chin reclining on his breast."

185.

fruit

lines read:

slept /

side

tour"

Emerald Deldare 9-inch

to rest /

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

108

186.

Emerald Deldare fern

deep, 8 inches across.

veau decor highlights

The

dish,

3 A inches
l

distinctive Art

butterflies

and

Nou-

flowers.

Again on

187.

this

jardiniere, butterflies

motifs

The

1910 Emerald Deldare

and flowers are the chief

making up the Art Nouveau decoration.

12 inches in diameter and
is

jardiniere

9 inches deep. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

188.

Eight-inch

Emerald

Deldare

decoration features the kingfisher,

water

lilies.

vase

(1911).

dragonflies,

iris,

The
and

189.

Geometric and

the Art

Nouveau

floral

motifs are again

style of decoration

dare vase, 1911. Height

is

8 inches.

on

this

combined in
Emerald Del-

WARE

DEl.DAKE

109

192.

One

of a pair of 9-inch

Emerald

Deldare candlesticks. The decoration

cludes a bayberry motif. Signature
"Sauter." Courtesy of June Salvatore.
190.

the

"Dr.

Syntax returned

of 7-inch-high

title

humidor (1911). Signature

The
to

Home"

is

"Wilton."

verse: "Yes, I've a mind, this

crack,

is

Emerald Deldare

Upon your raw bon'd

back, / Yes puff away, but

tis

no

whip
lazy

joke, /

For all my schemes to end in smoke."

Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John \V. Prout.

191.

Reverse side of the humidor shown

in

190.

111.

inis

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

110

194.

These 3-inch

per shakers are

salt

among

and pepfew

the very

Emerald Deldare items dated 1915.

The all-over Art Noveau decoration
combines geometric and floral motifs. Signature is "M.G." Courtesy
of Mr. and Mrs. Barry J. Rodgers.

Emerald Deldare

193.

shield-

back candlestick (hand grip on

back of shield), 1911, is 6 3A inches
tall.

This piece

is

signed with the

"M.G." The Art Noveau

decoration emphasizes floral motifs.

initials

Combination matchbox holdand ashtray in Emerald Deldare

(1911). Piece is signed by S. Rowley. The scene on the holder is one
of trees against a lake and moun195.

er

tain

background. Courtesy of June

Salvatore.

Emerald Deldare inkwell set

(1911), signed "A. Roth." The
tray, 9 by 6V4 inches, not only has
the usual Art Noveau decoration,
as do the inkwells, but also shows
a scene in which two youngsters
are playing with rabbits a most
196.

unusual departure in the decoration

of Emerald Deldare. Courtesy of

Mr. and Mrs. Pat Cutini.

Toothpick holder,

197.

2'/

inches high,

Nouveau border of
Emerald Deldare, but the body decoration as well is Art Noveau in feeling with
the graceful flowing lines in flowers and
leaves, and its geometric motifs. Signanot only has the Art

ture

"M.G.B."

Twelve-inch Emerald Deldare tankard-shaped pitch-

198.
er

is

signed

is

"Newman." The

lines

under the scene read:

Becky's hand he gave a squeeze / And thus addressed

her"If you please / I'll taste your tempting toasted

To

cheese." Courtesy of Mr.

Emerald Deldare tankard-shaped

199.
tall.

W.

and Mrs. Charles Spranger.

pitcher, 10V4 inches

is signed by
The title is "Dr. Syntax Entertained at ColBelow it are the lines: At, length the bell began to
To dinner in the college hall / The provost, in col-

This rare white-lined piece dated 1911

Foster.

lege."
call /

legiate pride / Plac'd

of Mr.

Doctor Syntax by

and Mrs. Barry

J.

Rodgers.

his side."

Courtesy

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

112

202.

very small

(2 14

inches)

Emerald Deldare mug. Like the

two preceding, this one is also
1911, but
A. Roth.

law

it

The

bears the signature of

lines read: "I give the

to that are

owing

The mean's

that set these current's flowing /

And

straight

pour'd."

200.

Mug

(1911)

Syntax scene
Signature

is

"L.

lines read: "Dr.

up

bearing

Dr.

inches high.

Newman." The

Syntax again

filled

second toast propass." Courtesy of John A.

his glass /

ceeds to

4*4

is

This Emerald Deldare

201.
is

the

date as

The

mug

and bears the same

the one shown in 111. 200.

same

title

is

size

"Doctor Syntax made

free of the cellar."

Navagh.

Seven-inch Emerald Deldare card tray also bears the signature

203.

"A. Roth."
read:

store /
thief."

The

"When

title

soon as

is

"Dr. Syntax robbed of his property."

it

was dawn

of

day

But as he passed the creaking door

Courtesy of June Salvatore.

He
/

The

lines

gently seiz'd the fancied

Syntax awoke and saw the

He

word
the ruby bumper

loudly then pronounced the

CI. Deldare jardiniere and base

(oi garden Beat), both dated

L909 and signed "Sheehan." The jardiniere (13 inches in diameter, 9 inches high) bean scene titled "Ye Lion Inn." The
base ( 13'/i inches tall) is decorated with two scenes, one

titled

Do

Is

"The Great Controversy," the other "All You Have to

Teach the Dutchmen English." Courtesy of John A.

Navagli.

1909 and signed "W. Foster,"

C2. Punch bowl, dated

9!4 inches high and
inside

14%

inches in diameter.

and out with various Fallowh'eld Hunt

tesy of Mrs.

It is

is

dec-orated

scenes. Cour-

Walter B. Robb.

C3.

bowl

6%

Two-piece Emerald Deldare

is unsigned but is dated 1911.

inches high,

The base

is

fruit
It is

10 inches in diameter.

14 inches long. Courtesy of

the Vogel family.

C4. The largest

known

plate in Deldare is this Emerwhich measures I6V2 inches in

diameter. The scene is titled "The Garden Trio."
Plaque bears the usual 1911 date, and is signed
Vogel family.
"J. Wigley." Courtesy of the

ald Deldare plaque,

C5. Deldare vase 22 V2 inches high,

1VA

inches in

diameter, bears the signature of Stuart ("R. Stuart"),

who hand-painted the decoration in beautiful colors.

On the opposite side are cranes in their natural wild
environment. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

C6. Top row,

left to right:

Gaudy Willow dinner

Bangor pattern; 1951 Christmas

plate.

plate; early

Bottom row: game

hand-decorated plate in

plate;

geranium rose bowl;

blue plate decorated with a Dr. Syntax scene.

C7. Service plates. Top row,

left

to right:

plates

made

for the

Majestic Hotel, the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and Hotel Pere Marquette; bottom row:
Athletic Club and the Peter Stuyvesant Hotel.

for the Pacific

C8. Top row:

Mount Vernon

plate

(IVi inches);

Gaudy Willow

pitcher (8 inches);

Niagara Falls plate (IVi inches). Center row: Pilgrim pitcher; Gloriana pitcher; Portland vase; cobalt blue vase with turquoise decoration and heavy gold encrustations and
gold lining. Bottom row: pitcher decorated with Fallowfield

Hunt scene on Blue Lune

body; emerald-green vase with sterling overlay decoration; Elbert Hubbard medallion;

Abino vase; Robin Hood pitcher with Deldare body.

UELDAHE WARE

113

-^Sr-o"
0- SYHTA^BOUNDTOATPK BY HlGHWAVMCN
*D FORTUNES ANGRY
*
r0WN BCWAlL'NG. <B prAPP *CHING 8AM HC HEARS, I
rwcV
S
C rA S ^S/CT0 HIS EARS:
.
A. SURE
RELIEF APPE*'

iC^ 5

204.

The scene on

this 8-inch

octagon-shaped Emerald Deldare pitcher

Tree by Highwaymen." The lines read:

frown bewailing, / A dog's approaching bark he
hears; / Twas sweet as music to his ears; / And soon a sure relief appear's." Courtesy of June Salvatore.
is

titled

"And

"Dr. Syntax

Bound

fortune's angry

to a

206.

Also signed by R.

Stuart

is

this

S^-inch octagon-shaped Emerald Deldare pitcher. The

ting

Out

title is

"Dr. Syntax Set-

to the Lake.s."

stitution of a

comma

for

obviously, neither one

caption for

111.

207.)

(Note the suban apostrophe;

was needed. See

The

verse: "Incuri-

ous Ralph, exact at four / Led Grizzle,

saddled to the door. / And soon, with

more than common

state,

The doctor

stood before the gate." Courtesy of Mrs.

Walter B. Robb.
Ten-inch octagon-shaped pitcher,

205.

1911, carries the signature "R.

The

lines

ing

Party" read:

under the

Who

title

"He

Stuart."

"A Noble Huntcanter'd

by

my

undertook to be his
guide." Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph

lady's side /

Stuart.

115

207.

scene

On
is

this

titled

6-inch Emerald Deldare pitcher signed by H. Robin, the

"Dr. Syntax, stopt by highway men."

The

verse: "For

now,

with fierce impetous rush / Three ruffans issued from a bush / One, Grizzle
stopp'd, and seiz'd the rein,s / While they all threat the doctors brains."

(The misspellings "impetous" and "ruffans" are those of the pottery artists,
words are correctly spelled even in early editions of Dr. Syntax. In the old days a printer might substitute a comma for an apostrophe
if he lacked enough apostrophes, but the comma here [in "rein,s"] was
the work of the Buffalo Pottery artist, and did not appear in the early
Syntax editions. Oddly, in this case ["rein.s"], either mark would be
erroneous; the correct word is simply "reins," as it appeared in the 1815
since these

edition.

Emerald Deldare plaque signed by

208.

J.

Gerhardt, one of the finest decorators at the

pottery, measures 12 inches in diameter.

der the

Un-

"Dr. Syntax, Sketching the Lake"

title

the lines read: "Along the bank,s, he gravely

pac'd

And

But Grizzle

all

its

in

her

various beauties trac'd /

haste

to

pass

Lur'd

by a tempting tuft of grass." Courtesy of

the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

209.

J.

Gerhardt was also the decorator of

Emerald Deldare plate titled "Dr.

this 7!4-inch

Syntax Soliloquising." The couplet: "Quit,

sad

sir,

that odious chair, /

melancholy

air."

my

With your grave

Courtesy of June Salvatore.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

116

210.

Ten-inch

Emerald

Deldare

plate

(1911),
"Doctor
Syntax Making a Discovery." The lines read: "Thus,
passing on, he chanc'd to see, / Beneath an overshadowing tree, / Patrick engag'd in am'rous guise /
Devouring Susan with his eyes." Courtesy of Mr.
signed by M. Broel. Title of the scene

and Mrs. Pat

is

Cutini.

Emerald Deldare plaque

211.

titled

Trio" measures 16!/2 inches and

is

"The Garden

dated 1911.

It

know, the largest Emerald

Deldare plaque ever made. Signature is "J. Wigley."
The lines read: "Miss was too fast by many a bar, /
The old-one was behind as far, / While Syntax strove
their faults to cover / By smoth'ring one and then
the other." Courtesy of the Vogel family.
is,

212.
the

as far as the authors

On
scene

this 13'/2-inch
is

signed by A.

"Dr.

Sauter.

must we look her

her

tail

behind."

Emerald Deldare chop plate

Syntax

Sell's

Grizzle."

The couplet

ears to find? /

And

reads:

Plate

is

"Where

faith, she's left

DELDARE WARE

213 A.

Emerald Deldare plate, 1911,

is "M. Ramlin";

in diameter. Signature

is

117

9>/4

title

inches

"Syntax

The verse reads: "Noise which both

drew / From their celestial interview /
They saw by Patrick's luckless trips / The luncheon
Star Gazing."

the gazers

in

complete eclipse."

Signed by E. Miessel and dated 1911, this

Emerald Deldare plate bears a scene titled
"Misfortune at Tulip Hall." The verse reads: "A shelf

213

B.

8'/2-inch

gave way, another follow'd, / Ma'am Tulip scream'd,

The Gard'ner hallooed, / While Syntax join'd the
gen'ral bawling, / And soon upon the ground was
sprawling."

214.

The

center medallion, as well as the border

on this 8!/-inch Emerald Deldare plate, is Art Noveau in character. Here again floral and geometric
motifs are combined.

118

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

Another of the Emerald Deldare plaques

decorated and signed by M. Gerhardt. The one
shown here, dated 1911, measures 12 inches.
215.

The

elaborate decoration includes doves, a pea-

full splendor, and a garden setting.

Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spranger.

cock in

fore

Although this 8!/Unch plate is dated 1909, and therewas made before Emerald Deldare was in production,

the

decoration has

216.

an unmistakable

similarity

to

that

on

Emerald Deldare. This piece does not have the usual Emerald
Deldare trademark, which was used only on 1911 pieces. The
signature of the decorator is "J- Gerhardt." Under the title
"John Alden and Priscilla" appear the lines: "Onward the
bridal procession

now

tesy of Mrs. Walter B.

Move

to their

new

habitation." Cour-

Robb.

Emerald Deldare plaque, 13V4 inches in diameter,

dated 1911 and signed by R. Stuart. The scene is called
"Penn's Treaty with the Indians." The lines below the title
217.

"We

the broad pathway of good faith / And

no advantage is to be taken / On either side,
but all to be openness, brotherhood / And love." (Note how
nearly identical are the borders on the plates in Ills. 216 to
219.) Courtesy of Ada Jane Corbett.
read:

good

are

met on

will, so that

119

"Daughter of the Revolution"

218.
9'/2

inches in diameter,

Like the plate

made

before

in

111.

is

plate,

dated

1909.

216, this one was

Emerald Deldare was

in

production and so does not bear that

trademark
dare

in

spite of

characteristics.

its

Emerald Del-

Signature

"B.

is

Wilton." Courtesy of Arthur C. Nenstiel.

Ten-inch
plate
titled
"Yankee
Doodle" and signed by M. Broel is dated
1908 too early to bear the Emerald Deldare trademark in spite of its character219.

istic

border.

The Revolutionary scene

ap-

pears to be an adaptation of Willard's

famous

"Spirit of '76." Courtesy of

A. Navagh.

Ralph Stuart signed this

Emerald Deldare plaque
(1911), and he also painted the
original painting from which this
scene was made. Title is "Lost."
220.

13'/2-inch

bearing

(Plates

signed

either

Harris.")

"R.

this

scene

Stuart"

or

are

"C.

John

221.
Emerald Deldare vase (1911) is 13'/2 inches in height.
Between the typical borders is an outdoor scene with an
upper frieze of butterflies and a lower one of flowering plants.
M. Gerhardt, who signed this piece, said it was known as the
"American Beauty vase."

222.

Basket of Emerald Deldare, 13 inches overall, has the

usual 1911 date and Art

butterflies,

and geometric

Nouveau decor

featuring dragonflies,

motifs. Courtesy of the

Vogel family.

DELDARE WARE

121

Deldare vase, dated 1914 and marked only "Buffalo

223.

Pottery,"

is

22'/2 inches in height.

On

the opposite side

is

its mouth. A
dated 1917. Beautifully hand-painted in brilliant colors, both these striking vases were the work of
Ralph Stuart and they bear his signature.

shown
this

vase similar to

a crane with a fish in

one

is

Twelve-inch Deldare plaque dated 1914

224.

two known that

and

titled

are

decorated with a scene featuring

Signature

"Thursday"
is

"J.

is

of the

Gerhardt."

whether plates were made

It

not

is

for the

friars.

known

remaining

davs of the week.

225.

This twelve-inch plaque bears a scene

giving the sequel to the one

On

"Friday" the

shown

friars are eating

in

111.

224:

the fish they

caught the day before. Here, again, the signais "Gerhardt" but the initial is "M."

ture

122

226.

Undated, untitled Deldare plate

picturing Spanish galleons

in diameter.

Decoration

for the pink clouds.

is

is

8 A inches
l

black except

The back

228.

L.

Anna signed

the 7-inch Deldare card tray

shown

dated 1908, and titled "Mr. Pickwick Addresses

the Club." Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. John W. Prout.
here. It

is

of the plate

lacks the usual Deldare trademark

and

says merely "Buffalo Pottery."

229.

No

12!/2-inch

title

is

given to the scenes that decorate this

Deldare tankard-shaped pitcher, nor

is

there a

Bottom is marked only "Buffalo Pottery," without the usual Deldare trademark. Courtesy of
John A. Navagh.
decorator's signature.

Deldare humidor, 8 inches in

It is dated 1909, and signed with
the initials "C. B." Lines on facing side
read: "There was an old sailor, / And he
had a wooden leg. / He had no tobacco,
227.

height.

nor / Tobacco could he beg." The verse

continues on the opposite side: "So save
/ And save up your rocks,
And you'll always have tobacco / In
your own tobacco box."

up your money,
/

123

DELDARE WARE

231.
Deldare
and picturing

Companion mugs

to the Deldare tankard-shaped pitcher shown in

and harbor scenes. They are 4
inches tall and are
dated 1907. Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin, Jr.

230.
111.

229 bear

village

It is

mug

dated 190S
bonneted Indian.

414 inches in height.

The

sig-

:
>

nature

is

"R. Stuart." Various other

pieces of Deldare with Indian decoration have been found. Courtesy

of Dr.

and Mrs. John W. Prout.

232.

Opposite

shown

in

111.

side

of

the

muj

231.

Small (6 3 4 inches) untitled

Deldare tankard dated 191 1, with
inner white casing. The English
233.

street scene

is

signed "R. Stuart."

Note the elaborate gold decoration

on the handle.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

124

234.
plate

Deldare calendar
for 1910 is ex-

tremely

rare

great demand.

and in
Diame-

ter is 9'/2 inches; signa-

ture, "L.

235.

The owl decoration on

9-inch Deldare candlesticks

a rarity.

They

these

is

are dated 1915.

also

An

236.

early Deldare plate de-

signed for a commercial account.

It is

undated and unsigned, and the

has not been iden-

TTE monogram

The simple decoration resembles the Roycroft pattern, which

tified.

also

came

in

Deldare.

Anna."

Abino Ware
Point Abino, a sandy spit of land jutting out into the blue waters of Lake
Erie on the Canadian north shore about fifteen leisurely miles from Buffalo, gave
Abino Ware its name. The point itself inherited the name from a French Jesuit
priest, Father Claude Aveneau, who lived there about 1690. Father Aveneau was
one of the early missionaries who went into wilderness areas seeking to convert
the Indians to Christianity. When the good father arrived at the point, only the
Indians and a few venturesome Europeans had been there before him. Game
abounded; wolves were common. Pere Aveneau built himself a crude cabin on
top of a

hill,

and there he communed with God

of effort

among

Indiana.

He worked

the

Miami Indians

at the

to prepare himself for his years

mouth

with the Miamis until 1707,

of the

St.

Joseph River in

when he was

recalled.

These

became so unruly after he left that

them. Eventually, worn out from his labors, the

Indians trusted and respected him, and they

Pere Aveneau had to return to

priest died in

Quebec

at the

age of sixty-one.

Aveneau, then Abeneau, and now shortened to Abino, the point

many of the same qualities that so impressed the French priest. It
commands a magnificent view of the lake and the broad sandy beaches ringing
First called

still

has

the nearby bays.

Its

dunes, some of them seventy-five feet high,

still

are im-

though hundreds of tons of sand were carried away years ago, for
industrial purposes. Many of the original trees, some of them huge old black
walnuts, were cut down to provide fuel for a lime kiln that once operated on the
point. Yet the dunes remain, and new trees tall poplars and pines have replaced
pressive,

the old giants.

In season, Point Abino

is

mecca

out into the lake about a halfmile,

for boating enthusiasts. Since the point juts

it

creates a natural

bay that

offers shelter

from the violent southwesterly winds that frequently sweep Lake Erie. Even in
the early days, sailing vessels found a haven behind the protective point in what
is now Bay Beach, but the reefs off the point took their toll. The waters nearby

many

and barges. In the 1920's, a large lake freighter,

ran aground on the reefs in a dense fog; its
steel plates can be seen on the bottom on calm days. A U.S. Coast Guard lightship
stationed about six miles off the point went down in a severe storm in 1913, with
the loss of all twelve men who were aboard. Finally, in 1917, the Canadian government erected a lighthouse on the point, to warn ships of the danger.
hold the remains of

ships

heavily loaded with wheat and

flax,

125

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

126

The

natural protected harbor that the

bay

affords attracted the Buffalo

Club, founded in 1885 by William Lansing, and

moved

Canoe

base from the

on the bay adjacent to the point, where it built
a fine clubhouse. In the early days, the bay was frequently dotted with the tiny
triangular sails of the sailing canoes the club members owned. Gradually these
gave way to larger boats, some of cruising class, even to a considerable fleet of
waterfront of Buffalo to a

it

its

site

"R" boats. Because of the shallowness of the bay, these were replaced with
twenty-one-foot Knockabouts of Canoe Club designs. Many Buffalo Canoe Club
Lightning sailors have gained national and international fame, and club members

have won many national and even world championships.

The Buffalo Yacht Club also built a clubhouse on the protected lee shore of
Point Abino, in addition to its base in Buffalo. Like the Canoe Club, this organization remains very active today. Most summer weekends, when the westerly
winds blow briskly, fleets of boats from these clubs, sails billowing in the breeze,
can be seen riding the choppy waters of Lake Erie.
Sailing scenes reminiscent of an earlier day make up the distinctive decoration
on most pieces of Abino Ware. In fact, this ware came into being in 1911, when
the chief artist, Ralph Stuart, began to reproduce sailing scenes (111. 241) on a
new line of items. Though the number and size of the sailboats pictured on the

new wares

varied according to the shape and size of the particular piece, the

scenes clearly represented views of Point Abino and the surrounding waters, and

ware its name.

Another decorative scene used on Abino Ware was also local in origin. This
was the large, Dutch-type windmill that could be seen by anyone standing on
the shore at Point Abino and looking eastward toward Buffalo. In 1832, the same
year the city of Buffalo was incorporated, Silas Carter (he had served under
Washington in the Revolution) built the mill on a site that later came to be
so gave the

called

Windmill

Point.

New Jersey in 1758, went to Canada after the war when

England was trying to attract new settlers for her remaining American colony.
He settled on "Windmill Point" in the early 1780's, and received a free grant of
400 acres from the government of Upper Canada. At that time Buffalo was nonexistent, there being little more than the log hut of an Indian trader on the
site where the city stands now.
In those days it was no simple matter to convert wheat into flour. Unless the
farmer took his grain to a mill, he had to grind it himself by one of two tedious
methods. One was to use the slow, hand pepper mills supplied to the settlers by
the government. The other, only slightly better, was to grind the kernels on the
smooth top of a hardwood stump, using a flat stone roped to a springy sapling.
Therefore, for many years Carter loaded his wheat, two bushels at a time, into
a canoe and paddled down the lake shore and Niagara River to Chippewa Creek.
There he would disembark, hoist the wheat to his shoulders, and follow the
Indian trail to the mill at Niagara Falls. Late at night he would return with his
precious flour, his load much lightened by the miller's fee.
After some particularly lean years, notably the "hungry summer" of 1816, also
known as the "cold summer," and "eighteen hundred and froze to death," Carter
Carter, born in

decided to build a mill of his own. He felt himself better suited for the life of a
miller than that of a farmer. There was plenty of limestone nearby, and he set
up a kiln to burn the lime for the walls of the mill. One millstone was built up
from broken boulders found on the farm, but the second run of burrstones was
brought over on the ice from Buffalo. The three-story, sixty-foot-high mill was
circular in shape, of the tower variety rather than the

common

from the four

sails,

smock

or post types also

from the cap, on the opposite side

also called "sweeps" or "swifts." When the winds became

at that period.

fantail projected

AB1NO WARE

127

too strong, the sails could be reefed, even furled, a necessary procedure during

was noted for. Any gusty storm put a hard

on the sweeps, and the miller had to be on guard constantly to unmesh
the gears and furl the sails at a moment's notice. In fact, the miller's work
never seemed to end. If the huge canvas-covered swifts did not need repairing,
or if one or more of them had not fallen to the ground, then the inner machinery
the strong gales that Windmill Point

strain

needed attention. The mill operated whenever there was wind, night or day;
sometimes it would run around the clock to grind grain accumulated on windless
days. In spite of the difficulties of operation, this mill was kept busy for more
than forty years, some farmers coming as much as sixty miles to have their grist
ground into flour. Such a trip would then take about five days, two days each
way and one day at the mill. In the 1840's, farmers from Eden and other places
on the American shore sometimes brought their grain across Lake Erie on the ice.
Indians long remained a source of danger to the mill customers. Farmers
arriving in large grain canoes would stay well out from shore until ready to land
close by at a point just a few feet from the mill. Farmers coming by land
quartered their stock in a small barn east of the
stone foundation of the house can

still

mill,

near Carter's house. The

be seen.

The exact date the mill ceased operation is uncertain, but it is thought to
have been at some time between 1875 and 1880. A few old residents can recall
seeing the windmill operate in 1933. Today, abandoned completely, little more
than a pile of weather-beaten stones, it stands a victim of the winds and rough
weather that once provided its power. But Abino Ware pictures it in its heyday.
Although Abino Ware was generally decorated with seascapes, and sometimes
the windmill on the point, the decorators apparently enjoyed a change of subject
occasionally. A few pieces of Abino, mostly plaques, can be found with pastoral
scenes. A rare plaque (111. 239), possibly one of a kind, bears a desert scene
with the Pyramids in the background, and in the foreground a nomad astride his
camel at an oasis. Other unusual pieces (Ills. 246 and 256) are titled "Portland,
Me., Portland Head Light." These were probably commemorative or souvenir
items, specially ordered through a jobber of Buffalo Pottery in the New England
area. It was, as has

been said

earlier,

common

practice on the part of the firm to

go to any lengths to accommodate clients and gratify their preferences.

For many years a rumor persisted that Abino Ware had originally been made
Canoe Club. Research definitely proves this
rumor to be without foundation. Abino Ware was intended to supersede Emerald
Deldare as the prestige product of the pottery. It was produced in 1911, 1912, and
1913, the bulk of the ware being made in 1912.
hether, at that time, it was
considered either a financial or an artistic failure is not known, but in any case
production of the ware was discontinued. In all, it had been made for only a
little over one year. Hence, Abino is scarce today, and quite understandably is
priced nearly as high as Deldare Ware.
Only three artists worked on Abino Ware: Ralph Stuart, Charles Harris, and
W. E. Simpson. Every piece is signed by one or the other of these three. Biographical details about Stuart appear in Chapter 2, but little information is available about the other two. It is known that Harris was of English origin, and
because of his talent as an artist, was hired by the pottery to become Stuart's
understudy. Questioned about Harris, surviving employees could remember little
for the exclusive use of the Buffalo

concerning him.

Abino Ware was made in exactly the same shapes as Deldare. In fact, Abino
decoration was applied to the semivitreous Deldare blanks. However, Abino has
unmistakable differences its nautical themes and

its colors. The main colors are

and pale green. The scenes, instead of being boldly portrayed as on all other
ware produced by the pottery, have a soft, subtle wispy appearance. They were

rust

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

128

done by means of transfer

prints,

then hand-decorated by the

artists.

An

excellent

overglaze has protected and preserved them.

The name Abino Ware

is

hand-printed in black

on the bottom of each

group
20).
of three numbers
number usually being a two. This numbering

piece, along with the date of manufacture

also identifies
is

each piece, the

first

(111.

letters

used only on Abino Ware.

Abino was sold by jobbers of Buffalo Pottery to retail outlets throughout the
countrychina shops, gift shops, department stores, and so on. It was never
offered in any Larkin catalog as a premium.

237.
ceiver

Abino hair
and powder

rejar

have most unusual high-

They

lights of blue.

are

1913 and are

signed by W. E. Simpdated

Courtesy
Vogel family.

son.

238.

of

the

Rectangular

dresser tray hand-deco-

rated
of

with

blue,

highlights

unusual

for

Tray measures
IOV2 by 1334 inches.
Signature is "W. E.
Simpson"; date is 1913.
Courtesy of the Vogel

Abino.

family.

ABINO WARE

129

The desert scene on this 12-inch Abino

plaque (1911) is a most unusual decoration to
be found on Abino Ware. The original draw239.

ing

was made by Ralph

Stuart,

and

this rare

piece bears his signature.

240.

Abino plate dated 1912 and signed "C.

Harris"

is

10 inches in diameter. Practically

Abino bears a number

all

that identifies the shape

The number on the plate is 235.

The windmill scene is a typical Abino decoraof the item.

tion.

Courtesy of Arthur C. Nensteil.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

130

An unnumbered

241.

This one

is

12!4-inch Abino plaque dated 1911.

also signed "R. Stuart."

Courtesy of the Vogel

242.

Also

unnumbered and dated 1911, Abino plaque

is

signed "C. Harris."

family.

243.

Abino bread-and-butter plates

(6 A inches)
l

are

dated

1912 and signed "C. Harris." Both bear the number 231.

ABINO WARE

131

Abino plaque (13!/2 inches), dated 1912 and titled

It bears no identifying number. The
signature "R. Stuart" appears on the edge (at lower right).

245.

Abino
Me. Portland Head Light," which was made for an
unknown client, probably as a commemorative
or souvenir piece. Plate is dated 1912 but
carries no other number. Courtesy of June

247.

244.

"In the Pastures."

246.

C.

Harris

signed

the

8'/i-inch

plate bearing the legend "Portland,

Salvatore.

Dated 1912, Abino plaque (13>/2 inches) is titled

"The Waning Day." The scene was drawn by Stuart, and
"R. Stuart" appears on the edge (at lower right). Plaque
lacks an identifying number. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

Rectangular Abino tray (12 by 9l4 inches) is dated

1911 and signed "R. Stuart," but it has no shape number.
Courtesy of the Vogel family.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

132

Rectangular Abino tray (12 by 9 inches), dated

1912 and signed "C. Harris," bears the number 203.

248.

Courtesy of

Ada Jane

Corbett.

249.
is

also

Abino sugar bowl (minus its cover)

dated 1912 and signed by C.

Harris. Identifying

250.

bowl

number

297.

Abino teapot matches the sugar

111.
249, not only in date and

in

signature but also in

One

is

its

distinctive difference

lack of cover.
is

the presence

"R Y" on the sail of the boat

the foreground. The authors have not

of the letters
in

seen such letters on any other piece of

Abino. The identifying number is 251.

251.
The shape number on the 9-inch
Abino candlestick is 204. W. E. Simpson
signed this 1913 piece.

252.
inches

Abino matchbox holder, 3V*

tall,

This piece
the

with attached ashtray.

is

dated 1912 and bears

number 224, but does not

carry

253.

Dated 1912, Abino basket

is marked with

signed "C. Harris"

the

number

tall

a decorator's signature.

215. Basket

is

13 inches

Seven-inch

254.

(1912)

Abino

tankard

has a white inner casing.

Signature

is

"C. Harris" and iden-

number
Buffalo and

Courtesy

tifying

264.

the

Erie County His-

of

torical Society.

Abino tankard-type pitcher is dated

1913 and signed by C. Harris. It mea-

255.

sures 10V4 inches in height and bears the

number

249.

256.
Seven-inch, octagon-shaped Abino pitcher bears the
same date decoration and legend as the plate in 111. 246.
However, the pitcher is signed by "R. Stuart." Like the
plate, it bears no identifying number.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

134

258.

Small (6 3A inches) Abino vase with windmill

is dated 1912

scene and signature of C. Harris. Vase

and bears the number 261. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs.

Ralph Stuart.

257.

Abino vase with typical seascape decoration

bears

the

number

Eight-inch vase

258.

is

dated

1912, and signed "C. Harris."

259.
tile

Harris also signed this 6-inch Abino tea

C.
that

is

dated 1913.

252. Courtesy of Mr.

It

carries the

and Mrs. Ralph

shape number
Stuart.

Christmas Plates
In 1950, Robert E. Gould, then president of Buffalo Pottery, introduced the
firm's first Christmas plate. It was not made with the intention of selling it, but
to

be given as a Christmas

Pottery.

The

plate

was

gift to

the employees, friends, and customers of Buffalo

so graciously received

by

all

that

first

Christmas that

presenting a Christmas plate became an annual custom.

Christmas plates were produced from 1950 through 1962, with the exception
of 1961, a different design each year.

The production

dual purpose: they were used not only as Christmas

of these plates served a

gifts,

but also served as

experiments in color, body, and application of design. The designs were applied
in various ways by transfers, decals, and hand-applied colors. The 1957 plate
was unusual because it came in five different combinations of body and design
color. The 1962 plate was the only one that was edged in gold. Only 150 dozen
of these approximately 9 />-inch plates were made annually; the 1962 issue was
limited to 75-dozen plates. Breakage and the elimination of seconds greatly
reduced this number. The cost of producing each plate was estimated by the
pottery to be four dollars.
The first two plates, 1950 and 1951, were designed by Eileen Travers, who was
Mr. Gould's secretary. Mrs. Travers' artistic background made her well qualified
1

for this task. Unfortunately, she did not sign her work.

were designed by a

The following
and

ten plates

can
be found on each of these except the 1962 issue.
The theme Jennings picked for the plates was taken from one of the most
famous Christmas stories ever told, Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol." Generally, the scene pictured on the front of the plate was explained in detail on the
reverse side. On some, however, the reverse merely extended "Season's Greetings."
Along with each plate came a leaflet that also expressed Christmas greetings and
of the series

local artist, Rix Jennings,

his signature

told the story of the scene depicted.

The series actually ended with

the Hample Equipment Company

the 1960 plate, but at the special request of

New York, a 1962 plate that was a

composite of several previous Dickens scenes was designed for their exclusive use.
In initiating the Christmas plate series, President Gould hoped he was creating
pieces that one day

of Elmira,

would be sought

after

by

collectors.

His dreams are being

realized far sooner than he anticipated. Today, in antique shops throughout the

country, the Christmas plates sell for $15.00 and up.

The

scarcest one

is

the 1962

To purchase a complete set at one time is practically unheard of; however,

Christmas plates do show up at auctions and antique shops from time to time, and
with patience the collector can eventually complete a set.

plate.

135

136

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

The 1950

260.

mas

Christ-

plate, solid blue in

color.

261.

mas
and

The 1951
plate.

Christ-

Decoration

lettering

are

in

green on a beige background.

262.
for

Christmas plate
white with

1952,

red decoration.

CHRISTMAS PLATES

263.
Varied colors are
used on a white background on the 1953

Christmas plate.

264.

The

plate

for

done

in

colors

Christmas
1954 is also

variety

of

against a white

background.

265.
Again in 1955,
varied colors appear
against a white background on the Christ-

mas

plate.

137

138

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

The 1956

266.

mas

Christ-

plate, also in varied

colors

the

marked

one

white

against a

background,

first

"Buffalo

China, Inc."

Brown

267.
for

the

used
on

is

decoration

1957 Christmas

this
plate,

against a white

center and

beige bor-

but the plate was

also made with other
der,

background

The 1958

268.

mas

colors.

plate

is

Christ-

ivory, with

the decoration and

tering

done

of colors.

let-

in a variety

(H HIST MAS PLATES

Pastel colors

269.

against

white back-

ground distinguish both

the 1959 Christmas
plate and the one for
the following year.

270.
The 1960 Christmas plate, with pastelcolored decoration
a

against

white back-

ground.

The 1962

271.

mas

Christ-

one

plate, the last

made,
green

is

white

with

decoration

and

gold edging. (No plate

was made

in 1961.)

139

10

Commercial Service
Upon enlarging

their facilities to produce vitrified china in 1917

(ill. 9),

widen its potential market with the manufacture of

ware. The firm name subsequently became almost synonymous

Buffalo Pottery sought to

select institutional

with individually designed dinnerware of the highest quality, their clientele

including not only the largest hotels but also railroads, steamship companies,

and naval academies,

government agencies, and many other institutions both public and private. The
manufacture of such commercial ware continued for more than twenty years, to
the late thirties. Then, with the country still beset by the severe economic depression, business fell off and the pottery gradually ceased production of customized institutional wares.
At the end of World War I, Buffalo Pottery was in an ideal position to cater
to commercial and industrial accounts all over the world. Not only did it have
adequate production facilities and an experienced and talented technical and
art staff; it had a network of jobbing outlets that were already distributing the
firm's products. Moreover, within the Larkin Company's vast complex there was
already a division that catered solely to the wholesale distribution of equipment
and supplies for hotels and restaurants it was called the "Wholesale and Hotel
Supply Division of the Larkin Company." Needless to say, when Larkin's totally
owned subsidiary, Buffalo Pottery, started to produce artistic hotel ware, the
parent company distributed this ware exclusively to their many established clients.
Jobbers would first get in touch with a possible account. If a spark of interest
was shown, the pottery would create an individual crest, monogram, or design
and submit it to the customer for his approval. Very often, the client was pleased
and an order ensued. However, it was not uncommon for Buffalo Pottery artists
restaurants, commissaries, private clubs, hospitals, military

to visit a prospective client's establishment

order to

make

more

first,

intelligent appraisal of his

before submitting a design, in

needs and

tastes.

Probably the most beautiful pieces of dinnerware- without doubt

among

the

most richly decorated ones that the pottery produced were its service plates
Perhaps they were made so because these largely decorative
( Ills. 275 and 287 )
items need never be subject to food stains nor marred by fork and knife scratches.
At any rate, Buffalo Pottery service plates were decorated with all the artistic
skill of which the staff was capable. Most had either bands or intricate designs
in pure coin gold, as well as vivid colors. On vitreous china, the decoration was
usually applied under the glaze, but on these service plates the gold and some
.

140

COMMERCIAL SERVICE

141

were put on over the glaze, since the gold would melt in the high
temperatures needed to fire the glaze. After the gold was applied on top of the
glaze, the pieces were fired in a kiln at a lower temperature. When they were
removed, the gold decor appeared black. It had to be burnished to bring out

of the designs

its

handsome

luster.

ware was marked "Buffalo China" (111. 19)

the authors' knowledge, was marked "Buffalo

Virtually every piece of institutional

on the reverse side.

Pottery."

The

None, to

earlier pieces

the customer for

whom

(before 1930) occasionally also bore the

body
Rouge Ware, Colorido Ware,

was

1930, in addition to these marks, the

color

Ye Old

or Cafe au Lait.

Ivory,

can be found on

this

name

of

they were made, as well as the date and the jobber. After
specified

too Lune Ware,

No

artist's

signature

ware.

Counted among the pottery's largest and most satisfied clients was the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The creation of a china service for them, to celebrate
the bicentennial of George Washington's birthday, called for the very finest
expression of the chinamaker's art (111. 276). The objective was to create a
service that had the grace of the colonial china that had adorned the hospitable
tables of Washington's day and generation but that also possessed the qualities
demanded by the modern way of life. The task was entrusted to Buffalo Pottery
in 1932, and carried out with outstanding success. The crowning achievement in
the creation of the set was the reproduction of the celebrated Gilbert Stuart
"Athenaeum" portrait of Washington (111. 275), a true decorating triumph. To
reproduce this portrait on the heavy rolled-edge ware ordinarily used in railway
dining service was quite out of the question. It was necessary to re-create a
dainty, thin service of old colonial shapes. Utilitarian considerations were subordinated to the effort to recapture something of the charm and the atmosphere
that had prevailed in the dining room at Mount Vemon.
In making the George Washington set, Buffalo Pottery artists and artisans
demonstrated they were still in possession of the techniques used to produce the
tableware

like that

our forefathers cherished generations ago.

No

better evidence

and care need be offered than the fact that to complete the service
was necessary to fire it four times under intense heat, twice before the repro-

of their skill
it

duction of the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington.

The

was

2400 degrees Fahrenheit and required seven

days. The second, the gloss firing, was at 2150 degrees and required five days.
Then the portrait was applied, and a third firing took place at 1500 degrees.
first,

or bisque, firing

at

set was fired the fourth and final time.

on china required what is known as the decalcomania photographic process. Nine different colors were used and fifteen
printings were required to achieve the correct effect. The artists, working from
a photograph of the celebrated painting, first made nine separate drawings on
stone to catch the different shadings. Some appreciation of the required skill can
be sensed from the fact that it was necessary to make these drawings backward.

Lastly, the gold

To reproduce

was applied, and the

Stuart's painting

is distinguished by fine coloring and a lifelike expression. To

on china, preserving all the richness and beauty of the original,
took literally many weeks and months of the lives of those who carried out the
task. Each piece of the service passed through the hands of forty-seven persons
during the course of its manufacture. The pure gold was applied by hand. On the
service plates, it was applied by encrustation, which requires that the design first
be eaten into the china with acid before the coin gold is applied. The effect can
be produced by no other method.
According to Joseph Meidel, comptroller of Buffalo Pottery at the time, the
gold on the George Washington service plate had a market value of about $5.00

Stuart's painting

reproduce

it

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

142

per plate. The service plates were sold to the railroad for $66.00 per dozen, so
it is obvious that the pottery took a loss on every plate sold. However, manage-

ment considered the loss was offset by the prestige that accrued to the firm.
George Washington's association with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad is
a fascinating historical sidelight. When, as a young surveyor, he explored the
wilderness beyond the Alleghenies, Washington perceived the potential greatness
of the western lands

if

they could be linked with the East. As he forded streams

and climbed through mountain passes, he noted feasible routes for future canals
and roads.
After the Revolution, Washington pressed his program for transport development. "Smooth the road and make easy the way," he wrote Governor Renjamin
Harrison of Virginia, "and see what an influx of articles will be poured upon us;
how amazingly our exports will be increased." As a result, Virginia chartered
the James River Company to canalize that river westward from Richmond, and
its shareowners elected Washington as company president. Thus, in 1785, four
years before he was elected President of the United States, Washington became
the head of the first commercial canal company in America.
Following the route that Washington himself had chosen, a 195-mile waterway
was built and 200 miles of turnpikes connecting Richmond with the Ohio River.
For many years the most important transportation artery in Virginia, by 1880
the canal was ready to give way to the railroads. The canal company became
a railroad company, the Richmond and Alleghany, and rails were laid along the
towpath.

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (originally

had also pressed
westward from Richmond. Its tracks, lying north of the canal, reached to the
headwaters of the James and, by 1873, along Washington's route over the Alleghenies to the Ohio River. In 1890, the Richmond and Alleghany, heir to the
canal, was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio. Thus was fulfilled, to a degree
he could not have foreseen, George Washington's dream of "making easy the
way" between East and West.
Because the traveling public was so enthusiastic in its approval of the "Washington Ware" and so eager to own pieces of it, a limited number of service plates
and other items, suitably packed, were available for purchase on the crack train,
the George Washington. These were sold without profit by the railroad; the
steward carried a price list for anyone interested ( 111. 277 ) and many a traveler
gladly bought one or more items as souvenirs of the journey or to use as gifts.
However, in the long run the Washington Ware proved too expensive for the
railroad to maintain, and it was eventually retired from use and, through the
years, sold to collectors. In 1952, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad donated a
retired diner used on "The George," complete with a set of the George WashMeanwhile, starting

in 1836, the

called the Louisa Railroad,

and

later the Virginia Central)

ington service, to the National

diner

is

now on

Museum

public display at the

of Transport in

St.

Louis, Missouri. This

museum.

upon by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. This time, the order was to reproduce the Chessie Cat
their corporate symbol, on china for use on the passenger train known
( 111. 279 )
as "The Sportsman."
Like a good many show-business personalities, Chessie was discovered by a
public-relations man. It happened in 1933, when L. C. Probert, head of the
Chesapeake and Ohio public-relations staff, noticed an appealing etching reproduced in the Sunday magazine section of the New York Herald Tribune, and had
In 1933, the services of Buffalo Pottery were again called

The first step was obtaining

was the work of Guido Gruenewald,

a flash of inspiration for capitalizing on the picture.

the commercial rights to the etching, which

COMMERCIAL SERVICE
a Viennese artist.

Once

first

was done, the picture

this

of the sleeping kitten

was

Fortune magazine advertisement (September, 1933)

all-air-conditioned train, the C&O's "George Washington." The picture

immediately put to use

for the

143

in a

was captioned "Sleep like a kitten on the Chesapeake and Ohio."

The response overwhelmed the Public Relations Department. Letters by the
hundreds poured in requesting copies of the picture of the sleeping kitten, and
in 1934, when Chessie became the C&O's calendar girl, the flood of letters reached
fan-mail proportions. In the public's mind, the kitten Chessie had become the
personification of the railroad.

After Chessie was adopted as the company's corporate symbol late in 1933,

Chessie dinnerware was

made

the only pattern used on the

for use

on "The Sportsman." Eventually, it became

other American potteries were

C&O, but by then

manufacturing the ware.

Another railroad that might be said

to

have figured

in the story of Buffalo

is the Baltimore & Ohio. This was the first railroad in the United States
be open for public traffic; its charter dates from 1827. The Enoch Wood firm
of Burslem, England, made two blue-and-white plates commemorating the founding of the Baltimore & Ohio. These bore the name of the railroad on the reverse.
On the front of one was pictured a typical English locomotive of about 1816

Pottery

to

had not seen an American locomotive and were

unaware that the one they pictured was not used on any American railroad.
A number of firms vied for the opportunity of making blue-and-white dinnerware for the railroad's one hundredth anniversary. The plates shown in Ills. 282,
283, and 284 were among the pieces made by Buffalo Pottery in anticipation of
being awarded the order. The borders of this ware consist of a sequence of
pictures of railroad equipment outstanding developments in the railroad's
history and progress; but each type of dish has a different central scene. Buffalo
clearly, the English decorators

Pottery did not, as

it

turned out, get the order; but today these pieces so carefully

designed for a practical purpose have become highly collectible.

unique order was given

to the pottery

City. In addition to the regular

by the Biltmore Hotel in New York

(111. 301) that was made for the

dinnerware

Biltmore, the hotel also ordered individually

monogrammed

handles of

vitrified

china into which silver table implements could be inserted. As far as the authors

know, this item was not made for any other account (111. 354).
Mainly responsible for the decoration used on customized commercial services
were Ralph Stuart, August Riehs, Perry Doncaster, and Frederick Krausen.
Stuart designed the earliest crests and custom-made plates until 1925, when he
hired August Riehs (111. 274) to become his assistant. Born in Germany in 1892,
Riehs served an apprenticeship in many of the famous potteries of Germany and
Austria. As an apprentice ceramic decorator, he worked the first four years with
no pay, and learned his trade well. Eventually he became a full-fledged journeyman and was employed as an artist by many of these same potteries. Hearing of
the golden opportunities in the new world, Riehs and his wife, Anna, came to
America in 1923. They settled in Rochester, New York, where he found immediate employment as a ceramic artist with the Smith Ceramic Studios. He
remained there for two years. When he learned of a job opportunity at the
Buffalo Pottery, he submitted samples of his artistic accomplishments for Stuart's
approval. These made such an impression on Stuart that he wrote Riehs the
job

was

his.

Riehs remained with the pottery for thirty-three years, until serious

him to retire. He died in 1967.

The authors have many of Riehs's original drawings; their intricacies and
minute detail are amazing. Like Stuart, Riehs was an exceptionally good wildlife
artist, and worked extensively on canvas as well as on china.
illness

forced

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

144
Krausen, both an engraver and

artist

during his long career,

made many

of

the ornate borders found on commercial services. Krausen originally

came to the
He decorated Deldare until it was dis-

pottery in 1921 at the age of sixteen.

continued in 1925; his signature can be found on

F F

many

late pieces of

Deldare

was abolished, he
became an apprentice engraver under Perry Doncaster, who was then chief
engraver, and following his apprenticeship he continued to work under Doncaster (except for a period of six years when he worked elsewhere) until 1945.
In that year Doncaster left and Krausen became chief engraver; he is still with
the firm at this writing. It is interesting to note that Fred Krausen thought so
highly of Ralph Stuart's artistic capabilities that he at one time was enrolled
as

K, in letters that ran together. After his decorating job

as a student in Stuart's night art classes.

Exactly
tions

is

how many

different designs

(111.

272) were

made

for various institu-

not known, but research and the original patterns found lead one to

numbered in the hundreds. That these wares received wide

by an article in the Buffalo Courier Express for July 6, 1930,
written by George H. Wood, which mentioned the fact that Buffalo Pottery
"vitreous-china hotel ware" was chosen by the U.S. Government as their standard
believe that they

approval

is

attested

of quality.

Since institutional ware

part of the United States

made by Buffalo Pottery was used in almost every

in many places outside this country, specimens of

and

localities. As mentioned earlier, the

were made largely between the end of the
first World War and the beginning of the forties. Most are colorful and quite
modestly priced; and since customized commercial services were made in endless
variety, a novel collection of these wares should be possible at relatively small
it

should be readily obtainable in countless

collectible

wares

in this category

cost unless the prices

rise

suddenly.

Undoubtedly, the George Washington plate

institutional ware.

Long

is

in the $50.00-plus category,

the highest-priced item

of

certain to continue

its

it is

climb into the $75.00 category and beyond in the not too distant future. Other
down rapidly in price, depending on such varied

commercial-service items scale

factors as color appeal, the artistic merits of the specific decoration, one's interest
in the organization or institution for

which the ware was made,

as well as the

usual considerations of condition and availability.

At the end of the book is a quite comprehensive listing of scores of the commercial accounts for which Buffalo Pottery made customized tableware.

/&\

272.

Examples of the

crests

used

to decorate

commercial ware.

146

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

273.

August Riehs, who designed

the decoration for

much

of the fine

commercial ware, painted this original watercolor. It was designed for

use on a plate. Courtesy of Mrs.

August Riehs.

274.

Riehs

designed

this

plate for his personal use;

his initials in the center.

ration
a

is

body

of Mrs.

it

has

The deco-

and green against

Ye Old Ivory. Courtesy

in rust

of

9-inch

August Riehs.

275.

OM MKHCIAL SEHVICE

The

Railroad in

11-inch, gold-embossed service plate

1932 for use on

147

made

for the

Chesapeake and Ohio

the "George Washington." These plates were probably the

highest artistic achievement in commercial service of any pieces that the pottery ever

made.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

148

eorae

ton,

PRICE LIST
Ash Trays

.35

Plates

Dinner

Salad
Bread and
Soup
Service

Bakers
Large

1.20
1.00

-Medium
-Small

1.00

Breakfast

.60

Bowls
Oatmeal

5.00
.80
.65

Butter

.55

95

1.00
Platters

Butter

Cake

276.

Additional pieces of the Washington service. This ware was

also sold to passengers.

(See

111.

277.)

Celery

Chips

.55

Covers

1.35

Trays.

Large
Medium

Extra

2.20

Small

Creamers

Large

.65

-Hot Water

Small

.60

-Tea
-Stands

After

Coffee
Courtesy
Egg
Mustard

Dinner.

Bouillon

sengers

booklet distributed to

its

pas-

by the Chesapeake and Ohio

Railroad contained a price

list

for

the

George Washington China Set and an ilhow and why the

china was made, in addition to a timetable and menu (see 111. 278). Courtesy
of Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.
lustrated account of

278.

This picture of the inside of the

dining car appeared on the

menu men-

tioned in caption 277. Note the George

Washington service plates on the tables.

Courtesy of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad.

Fruit

Dish

3.00
1.60
1.20
1.10

Pots

Cups

277.

Large

.60
1.00

Saucers

After Dinner.
Coffee

.75

95
45

35
.45

Courtesy

.35

1.00

2.50
2.50
2.20

Sauce Boats
Shirred

Egg Dishes..

.20

125
1.00

m
CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO LINES
Order Blank on Reverse Side

COMMERCIAL SERVICE

149

The "Chessie" cat serv(1933) was also made for

279.
ice

Chesapeake and Ohio

It was designed for
use on the train known as
"The Sportsman." Shown here
the

Railroad.

are a child's 7-inch

and a

dish
plate.

The

lines,

maroon.

Old

280.

feeding

lO'VS-inch dinner

cat

is

gray;

Body

is

the

Ye

Ivory.

Check issued by the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad as payment to Buffalo

Pottery was reproduced on
the bottom of an ashtray used
on the "George Washington."

281.

picture taken at the

pottery in 1932 shows an em-

ployee decorating an ashtray

like the

one

in

111.

280.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

150

282.

Dated 1927, the

is

and Ohio

W.

Va." Dec-

"Harpers Ferry,
in blue on a white body.

Railroad plate
oration

9i/2 -inch Baltimore

titled

is

283.

Seven-inch

duct, 1835."

B&O

plate

Date on bottom

titled
is

"Thomas Via-

1927. Decoration

is

in blue.

285.

plate from the service

made

for

the Greenbrier Hotel has multicolor decoration against a white body.

284.

third

B&O

one, also dated

plate in blue

and white. This

1927, measures 8!4 inches and

286.

Decoration in green on Ye Old

Ivory

body was chosen

is

"Potomac Valley." The historical border on

this plate is exactly the same as on the plates in Ills.
282 and 283.
titled

World's Fair service.

for

the

1939

COMMKHCIAL SERVICE

151

287.

lO'/j-inch service plate

the Stuyvesant Hotel, Buffalo,

made

New

for

York,

is rimmed with a wide band of green between two narrower bands of gold. Por-

trait of

288.
croft

green

Stuyvesant

The

service

For Jack Dempsey's restaurant in

York City, his photograph was reproduced on Rouge Ware, under the

New

glaze.

The service designed for the ChiRock Island Railroad's "Rocket"

was one made by the Lamelle process.
290.

cago,

Center

is

cream-colored;

green, and lettering red.

border,

sage

in

brown

made

Inn in East Aurora,

and

rust

ivory background.

289.

is

tones.

the

for

New

decoration

Roy-

York, has

against

an

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

152

291.

different

pattern designed for

the C.R.I. Railroad, but also

made by

the

Lamelle process, with a sage green bor-

292.

Service plate

clay Hotel

Body

is

is

made

for

the Bar-

decorated in gold and blue.

293.

The Montclair Hotel chose

a white service decorated in red,

with a gold edging.

white.

der.

The

295.

lO'/t-inch service plate,

dated

1923, designed for the P.A.C. Decora294.

Service plate for the Majestic Hotel

tifs

is

in gold,

as

is

296.

The

crest

on the 1014-inch

bands and mo-

Hotel Cadillac service plate was

the crest centered

done in a variety of colors. The

wide band of maroon on the rim is
bordered by bands of gold.

tion consisting of various

Narrow outer border

has blue border trimmed with gold and a

against white.

gold crest in the white center.

baby blue; inner border, yellow.

is

COMMERCIAL SERVICE

Decoration

297.

maroon and

in

black on Ye Old Ivory body

the

11-inch

service

plate

make

of

the

298.

153

Dark blue decoration against a

Ware body was made for the

299.

design in rust and black on an

body was made

Blue Lune

ivory

Fairview Golf Club.

Ahwahnee

in

in

1927

for

The

Yosemite Park.

Hotel Pere Marquette an unusually

striking one.

300.

service in the

design was

made

for the Missouri,

The design
brown on Ye Old Ivory Body;

Kansas, Texas Railroad.

is

in

Old Abbey-

border

is

blue.

The Biltmore

In

for the

a delicate design in gold and black on a

ground is
green and

white body.

colors.

301.

in

Los Angeles chose

a peacock design was

Genesee Hotel. The backwhite; the stripes are done in

302.

made

1915,

tan; the bird

is

in a variety of

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

154

New

York Central
brown on
white, in the design known as Country
Garden. This design was also made in
303.

Service for the

Railroad

was decorated

in

304.

Around

1927,

Pell's

Restaurant

chose a service with Ye Old Ivory body

decorated with a multicolored

light

green and black

fish

and

stripes.

305.

done

ski motif

in a green

body was

outline against a white

one of the designs

for

commercial

use.

other colors.

306.

coaching

scene

with

English

overtones was reproduced in red on Ye

Old Ivory body

for the Fairview Grille.

307.
Another design for commercial use,
which was hand-decorated in a variety
of colors on a Cafe au Lait body. The
wide border was green.

308.

Ware

plate

account.

hand-decorated Rouge

made

for a

commercial

The decoration

and green.

is

in blue

311.

Also for commercial use was this

winter-scene design done in black and

white on a Rouge

309.

a white

made

Ware body.

nautical design in blue on

body

that

may have been

for a seafood restaurant.

312.

Ralph

Stuart

designed

hand-

decorated parrot on Ye Old Ivory body

for a

313.

commercial service with black

decoration on a light-gray body.

310.

commercial account.

White hot-toddy cups decorated

made for a com-

with red devils were

mercial account. Courtesy of Alice Herrmann Antiques.

11

Miscellaneous Pieces

Buffalo Pottery manufactured a host of products that have not yet been
mentioned in this book. Some of these were listed as premiums or as for-sale
products in Larkin catalogs; some were not. To distinguish between them, this
chapter is divided into two parts. The first part will deal with previously unmentioned Buffalo Pottery products that were offered by Larkin as premiums or for
sale. The second part will take up the articles not ever offered in the Larkin
catalogs.

PART

In general, more information

is

Larkin catalogs. The mere act of

date even

if

listing also

available about items that

listing

were

listed in the

automatically provides an item with a

an actual specimen of the piece has not come to

light.

The

catalog

provides certain descriptive details.

DINNERWARE
The

first

catalogs

Buffalo Pottery dinnerware that appeared in the Larkin

was the Lamare and Modjeska dinner and

originally in the catalog of April,

offered. It

Larkin

is

interesting to note that

Company would

premium

These appeared
1904. Subsequently, many other patterns were

upon the

tea sets.

receipt of ten cents in stamps, the

ship free of charge a sample individual butter dish so that

the customer could examine the pattern he

had chosen before ordering the

Dinner sets were available in various assortments, ranging from fiftythree to one hundred and twelve pieces, according to the customer's preference.
All the early dinnerware (before World War I) was semivitreous china, and
each piece was marked with the pottery name (111. 20), but very few early
dinner sets were dated. The name of the pattern, however, appeared on the
reverse side of many pieces. Later dinnerware (after World War I) was no
longer marked "Buffalo Pottery," but "Buffalo China"; and most of the pieces
carried the date as well as the trademark. At the end of the war ( the pottery had
suspended production of china for civilian use during the war), ware was again
made for the Larkin Company catalogs, and this was all vitrified china, the
finest quality the pottery had ever produced.
entire set.

156

157

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

Given below are the names of the dinnerware patterns, the years in which they
were offered in the catalogs, and details about them taken from the catalog descriptions. It is not known whether any of this ware was offered through other
distribution outlets of the pottery.

Lamare, 1904 through 1908:

Sprays of poppies, choice of dove, dark blue, green, or brown. Embossed work

pure gold.
Modjeska, 1904 through 1909:
Pink roses or blue forget-me-nots. Pure gold trim.
Wild Poppy, 1905 through 1908:
Borders of wild poppies in olive green.
Bonrea (named for Louis Bown and William Rea), 1905 through 1916:
Ornate scroll border in myrtle green with pure gold trim.
in

(See Ills. 314 and 319.)

Old Blue Willow Ware, 1905 through

Color Band

(111.

1917.

315), 1909 through 1910:

wide color band and two pure gold

Plain with

bordering each piece.

lines

Comes in apple green, turquoise, or maroon.

Miana (111. 314), 1909 through 1910:
Border pattern of Persian design

in Oriental colors,

dark and light blue and

green predominating.

Kenmore (111. 315), 1909 through

Art Nouveau and floral border

1911:
in

green decor, illuminated in gold and gold

trim.

Buffalo

315), 1909 through 1914:

(111.

Sprays of roses and altheas in natural colors. Full gold trim.

Maple Leaf

(111.

314), 1909 through 1914:

Small border of green maple leaves and pink flowers with

Princess

Green
Seneca

(111.

314), 1909

floral

(111.

full

gold trim.

through 1914:

border with

full

gold trim.

315), 1909 through 1914:

Border of flowers. Choice of green or dark blue. Gold handles and embossed
work.

Tea Rose

(111. 314), 1909 through 1914:

Small border of pink roses and green leaves with

Gold Band

(111.

full

gold trim.

314), 1909 through 1915:

Plain white with a wide pure gold band.

Forget-Me-Not (Ills. 315 and 317), 1909 through 1917:
Forget-me-nots in border pattern with full gold trim.
Florence Rose, 1910:

Double border

of pink roses

and green leaves with edges and embossed work

in gold.

Gold Lace Border, 1911 through 1914:

Gold border in a lace design. Edges and embossed work

in gold.

Pluto, 1911 through 1916:

Wide border

of pink roses

and green

leaves, in natural colors.

Edges and em-

bossed work in pure gold.

Queen, 1911 through 1917:

Narrow border of pink roses and green leaves

embossing in gold.

in natural colors,

edges and

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

158

Minerva, 1913 through 1916:

Sprays of pink roses and spring beauties. Full gold trim.

Vienna

(111.

318), 1915:

Designs in dark blue underglaze. Full gold trim.

Vassar, 1915 through 1916:

Designs in conventional dark green underglaze.

Empress, 1915 through 1917:
Green conventional border. Full gold trim.
Fern Rose, 1915 through 1917:
Border design of small pink roses and green leaves with
Wild Rose, 1915 through 1917:

full

Wild roses and spring flowers in natural colors with gold

Gold Line, 1916 through 1917:
Plain white, decorated with two narrow gold lines.
Rosebank, 1917:
Wide border of pink roses and green leaves

gold trim.

trim.

in natural colors.

Edges traced

in

gold.

Spray Decor Tea

Set,

1919 through 1920:

Vitreous china. Sprays of pink roses. Very realistic and can hardly be told from

hand-painting.

Blue Bird Tea Set

(111.

320), 1919 through 1922:

Vitreous china. Bluebird decor in

full

natural colors.

Bungalow, 1920 through 1921:

Vitreous china. Fine latticework alternated with a fine
green, or yellow. Blended

and dotted beneath with

floral

little

decoration in red,

flowers. Full gold trim.

Dresden, 1920 through 1921:

Vitreous china. Delicate pink roses and blue flowers intertwined and arranged
in panels on a dainty ivory background. Edges and handles traced in coin gold.
Glendale, 1920 through 1921:
Vitreous china.

Comes

in green, golden

brown, turquoise blue.

An

unusual

festoon design surrounding pink roses. Edges and handles traced in coin gold.

Pink Rose, 1920 through 1922:

Vitreous china. Sprays of pink roses almost
Beverly (111. 316), 1921:

like hand-painting.

Gold border.

Vitreous china. Conventional border interspersed with pink roses and green

Pure coin gold handles.

Coin Gold Band, 1921:
leaves.

Vitreous china. Single

The

last

band

two items represent the

Pottery in the Larkin catalogs.

given as

of coin gold

% 6 tn

inch wide. Pure gold handles.

dinnerware made by Buffalo

were the most expensive dinnerware
make purchases worth $180 in order to

final offering of

They

premiums a customer had

also
to

obtain a 100-piece set of the dishes.

Some dinerware
catalog.

Among

sets that the pottery

made were never

these were Lucerne, Arlington,

Mandalay

offered in the Larkin

(111.

348), Indian Tree

Japan (111. 343), and Bangor (111. 345). Japan and Bangor were both
and both were hand-decorated in a variety of bright colors that
gave them unusual attractiveness. The pottery issued Mandalay and Indian Tree
in the mid-twenties, copying them from the patterns used on pieces produced by
the famous English potteries. From the samples they have had an opportunity
to compare, the authors believe that Buffalo Pottery articles in these two patterns
(111.

347),

made

in 1905,

are far superior to the English ware.

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

159

* PH

h>

Frfcaa < mm,

BUFFALO HOTTIHY

A page from the fall

1909-1910 showing some

314.

winter catalog of

of the dinnerware

being offered at that time. Courtesy of Harry

H. Larkin,

316.

Beverly pattern dinnerware, dated 1920,

W^'
p
*

^"^PBL-,,
'v^H

^H

^B

H^^S

IL

1
WK

||^^l

fl

^gf

^IfcL.
aM

B 'iHV#V

~#^aaaaaa*-U__^

111.

mi

PtWacU

Facing catalog page

to

wltk

u>

WAHt

that

I'miliia

shown

314. Note the child's tea set at lower

Courtesy of Harry H. Larkin,

in

left.

Jr.

Jr.

was decorated with pink roses, green leaves,

and had coin gold handles and trim. Courtesy
of John A. Navagh.

^^y^^

315.

Quality

S Stall ROHCfJLAIN

51

'

_*aaaaai

aaaaaal

5JI

aaaaaaaaV^ It.

> l^t

_^^B

Forget-Me-Not dinner set was shown in

Larkin catalogs from 1909 until 1917. Courtesy of Schohn's Antiques.
317.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

160

318.

Vienna-pattern dinnerware, shown

in the Larkin catalog in 1915,

was deco-

rated in blue with gold trim.

319.

From

catalogs

trimmed

1905

until

showed dinner
Bonrea

1916,

Larkin

sets in the gold-

pattern.

Underglaze

decoration was done in deep blue-green.

320.

Bluebird pattern tea

to 1922.

The bluebirds

set,

dated 1919.

are in natural colors.

It

was offered

in

Larkin catalogs from 1919

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

321.

Other pieces were also decorated

pattern.

From

left:

in

161

Bluebird

322.

dated 1919; 5-inch butter tub, dated 1919; 8'/2 -inch

child's

warming

tesy of the

dish.

323.

shown

The bottom
in

111.

of

the

sugar bowl

322. Courtesy of the Vogel

family.

These pieces of hand-painted bone china are

dated 1905. Courtesy of the Vogel family.
324.

The

first

china

made

in Buffalo,

November

4,

1904, was a hand-painted sugar and creamer. Cour-

8-inch personalized feeding dish,

Vogel family.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

162

TOILET OR BATHROOM SETS

The period when toilet or bathroom sets were offered in the Larkin catalog
was the period when indoor plumbing was still nonexistent in many parts of the
The

country, especially in rural areas.

pattern)

was shown

also offered a set in this

Cairo pattern

first

Buffalo Pottery toilet set (the Cairo

Larkin catalog of January, 1905. Earlier catalogs had

pattern, but it was not manufactured by Buffalo Pottery.

in the

toilet sets

made by

Buffalo Pottery were thereafter offered in almost

325) until 1918, when they were apparently discontinued because of decreasing demand for them. The exact number is unknown,
every Larkin catalog

(111.

doubt that literally many thousands of Cairo sets were given

away as premiums and sent to every part of the United States.
A complete eleven-piece toilet set consisted of a washbowl, pitcher, chamber
pot with cover, a ribbed-bottom soap dish with cover, small pitcher for hot water,
brush vase, shaving mug, and a slop jar with cover. If an eleven-piece set was
not desired, a nine-piece set (minus the slop jar with cover) also was available.
The Buffalo Pottery trademark was the only identification to be found on the
bottom of these pieces.
Listed below are the bathroom sets offered in the Larkin catalogs, the years
in which they were given, and sometimes the exact catalog description:
but there

little

is

Cairo

(111. 325), 1905 through 1916:

Decorated with a cluster of June roses in pink and yellow in natural green
leaves with stems in a beautiful brown. Handles and edges traced in gold.
Chrysanthemum (111. 326), 1905 through 1910:
Same shape as Cairo sets, chrysanthemum sprays in green underglaze.
Tinted, 1906 through 1909:
Tinted from top to bottom and on panels with choice of pink, blue, or green.

Full gold trim.

White and Gold (111. 325), 1906 through 1918:

"White body illuminated with gold."
325.

The

catalog

of

fall /

winter

1915-1916

offered a choice of three

designs in bathroom
Courtesy of Harry

sets.

PREMIUM MERCHANDISE

UN

Bathroom

el-Plated

Bath- Spray

GIVEN with a SI SO purchaa* of

OfiQ
P*v7 products or for M.SO In Coupon.
K.li the luxury
EM- patted aprWd
tbbci-Jboumd. and five
"'

H. Larkin,

Jr.

Toilet-Sets

Fittings

daome addition* to any Bathrooia.

of Hrui Slckrl-iilatwi and hixhly pottahed.
oickel-pl*t* *d poliahed t>ra screw*.
I with

These beautiful Set. are Bade by the Buffalo Pottery. In the highest grade
American tern! vitreous porcelain. Hare Imperishable lustrous glare,
Bowl* have rotl-edfe.
guaranteed not to crare.
Nine-piece Set consists of Wash Bowl and Pitcher. Chamber with cover,
ribbed - bottom Soap-Dun with cover, .mall hot. water Pitcher Hru.li-Vase am]
Shaving-Una*. Eleven-piece Set has, in additioo. a Slop- Jar and <

of

Tumbler-Holder
>ith a 12 purchase of Product.
I

lAiupuni.

r.K *J in

MM.-P1KCE SET.
V mill
of Product, or
V"" CAIRO
lb
Cm,
v i.3DV
7;;n cairo EUVIN-pieci sbt. i,iu\
c ha | Producta or for Ho
LSI).

[>?ing weir.-

'

Towel-Bar

for

y\).

and 2350 ha\<- white both, d and

Yellow and natural green leave., wilh rten

Hand.-, and edges are traced

ith

foe II In CaHiflOgtg

ji

porctajg of iv-i-

'

Sotp-Oiib

No.

7r

1 1

=;

tie por-

in gold.

llIIF.-.\M).COLl> NlNE-PIECl Ml
pwthaaa of Products or for Ik In

Vrt
.Ml.

i'f.i.1.

V
>u.

WHITE- ANDCOLI) HFMA-PIK

fllh+h with
vsiUJU
a lit purchase of Product.

t.

.'OK

IM\

with

a Ib

>

SJ Ibi

'"Lave

Soap- Holder

.im

in

'

Tumbler- nd Tootb-Bniib-Holder

In

plain white body. Ilium i.-

SE1

MIF\

\l

326.

room

Part

of

bath-

in

the Chry-

santhemum

pattern.

set

Decoration was
against

Courtesy

in

163

ELLANEOUS PIECES

is(

green

white body.
of

Schohn's

Antiques.

Hero

(111. 325), 1913 through 1918:

"White body with underglazed decorations of sprays of green chrysanthe-

mums."
Maple Leaf,

1914:

Small border of green maple leaves and pink flowers. Gold trim.
Princess, 1914:

Green

floral

border with gold trim.

Tea Rose, 1914 through 1918:

Clusters of yellow and pink

on a white body with green leaves.

In 1917 and 1918, a large covered slop jar with bail handle was offered
following patterns: Gold Band, Tea Rose, and Hero.
roses

CHILDREN'S
From 1904 through

in the

WARE

1918, a twenty-two-piece child's tea set

was

offered. This

consisted of six plates, six cups and saucers, a teapot with cover, a creamer, and

sugar bowl. In the early catalogs the sets were decorated in an underglaze green
floral decor. Later, sets

were decorated with

violets in natural colors

(Ills.

315

and 328).

From 1906 through 1910,

mium. This one was known

as the

Baby Bunting

Set

nursery rhyme and also was decorated with a series

in bright colors

and trimmed

in

pure coin gold.

child's 7 3/j-inch semivitreous china feeding dish

color pictures of the

was given as a pre(111. 327). Each piece bore a

of six Baby Bunting pictures

a child's twenty-two-piece tea set

Campbell Kids

(111.

decorated with various multi-

329) in the center and gold lines around

the edges appeared in the catalogs of 1913 through 1918.

had the

letters of the

they could not be tipped easily. Feeding dishes are

but none

is

Some

of these dishes

alphabet around the top rim. Most were engineered so that

all

marked "Buffalo Pottery,"

premiums of the Larkin

dated. These were products to be sold, not

Company, and they

cost fifty cents each.

to fifty cents' credit

toward premiums;

premium credit, the cost was

The authors also have in

The purchase

or, if

of one entitled the buyer

he purchased one outright without

half the catalog price or twenty-five cents.

their collection the following items, of

mention can be found in any Larkin catalog:

which no

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

164

An

infant's

warming

dish in the Blue Bird pattern

base into which hot water

is

111.

321

This has a metal

keep the food warm.

the Blue Bird pattern (111. 321) that

poured

to

Another baby's feeding dish in

is similar
shape to the Campbell Kids dish.
Two white vitreous-china pitchers edged in gold, 3 and 5 inches tall respectively, that are decorated in multicolor with scenes from the Roosevelt Bears
book (111. 330). These were done by applying a decal under the glaze. Both are
in

marked "Buffalo China,

327.

The Baby Bunting

1919."

tea set,

sisted of twenty- two pieces,

was

We

believe they are part of a child's cereal

set.

which con-

offered in Lar-

kin catalogs from 1904 until 1918.

The

decal-

applied scenes are in bright colors against a

white body. Courtesy of Mrs. Emil Klein.

The

328.

child's tea set

with violet decoration

also consisted of twenty- two pieces.

It

was

of-

fered in the catalog from 1904 to 1918.

These undated Campbell Kids feeding

and are decal-decorated in bright colors. They were offered by
Larkin between 1913 and 1918.
329.

dishes measure 7 3A inches

^^^^

tf

1^-.

^H

\A

#330.
velt

Brightly colored scenes from

Bears decorate children's

pitchers 5

and

2'Yi

inches

tall.

The Roose-

vitrified

china

Three pieces from

331.
a

children's

six-piece

cereal

which was

set,

offered

the

in

Larkin

catalog in 1922. Courtesy

of

Mr. and Mrs.

M.

Lawrence

Nichol-

son.

VASES
Three

premium

art pottery-type vases

made

were listed in the

was the Buffalo Pottery trade-

of semivitreous china

catalogs of 1905. Their only identification

mark:
Artistic Shape, 1905

"A

through 1907:

decor of natural flowers in natural colors.

Trimmed

in gold. Six inches high."

Rococo, 1905 through 1907:

"Rococo design with a spray of clematis. Heavily traced
buff or apple green background. 10 A " high."
English Design, 1905 through 1909:
Decorated in sprays of flowers in original colors. 10" high.

in gold.

Comes

in a

SERVING PIECES
Chocolate Pot
"91/2" tall.

in gold.

(111.

334), 1905 through 1908:

Sprays of poppies in natural colors. Embossing and handles traced

Choice of buff or apple green background." (Note: There apparently

was some

size variation, as the authors' chocolate pot in this pattern

Salad or Fruit Bowl

(111.

is

11"

tall.

332), 1905 through 1909:

"The decoration is a cluster of roses in their natural coloring against a green

and pink background. Embossed work is traced in gold." This piece was described as being a "handsome sideboard piece, 10 3/4" in diameter."
Cake Plate (12") and Celery Tray (lW), (111. 332), 1905 through 1910:
The same decor as the salad bowl.
Oatmeal Set, 1905 through 1910:
Three-piece set consisting of one bowl, one cream pitcher, and one plate. A
set of six bowls was also available. "The decoration was sprays of roses, lilacs
and forget-me-nots in natural colors. Edges and handles were traced in gold."
Cracker Jar, 1905 through 1912:
Sprays of poppies in natural colors. Embossing and handles done in gold. Buff
or green background. 5y* high.

Fruit Set, 1905 through 1912:

"Consists of 8V2" diameter fruit

bowl and

six saucers.

Each has

a different

center decoration of natural fruit with sprays of flowers on the sides."

Chocolate Pot

New

(111. 335), 1908 through 1911:

design. 11" high. Sprays of wild roses in natural colors.

Handle and em-

bossed work done in gold. Choice of buff or Flemish green background. Chocolate cups and saucers to match the chocolate pot were never mentioned, and
so

we assume none were

ever made.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

166

Egg Cup

Set, 1909:

Six double cups to a set, in pure white.

Tea Pot

One

(111.336)

most ingenious and practical items ever produced and patented by

was shown in the Larkin fall/winter catalog of 1915-1916. This piece
was known as the "Tea Ball Tea Pot." It was vitrified china decorated under
the glaze in a blue floral pattern called Argyle. A nickel-silver and silver-plated
tea ball was suspended permanently, with a chain, under the lid. Filled with
tea leaves, this could be lowered into the water for the tea to infuse, and raised
upward when the brewing was complete. The cover of this pot can be lifted
off, but is so constructed as not to fall off no matter at what angle the teapot
is held. The pot made six cups of "perfect" tea. These teapots were sold as a
Larkin product for two dollars; if premium credit was not desired, the price
was only one dollar. A teapot in the authors' collection is marked "Buffalo
Pottery" and "Argyle," and bears the date 1914. The word "China" also appears
above the buffalo. This is one of the rare instances where a piece of vitreous
china was marked "Buffalo Pottery" and not "Buffalo China."
China Butter Tub, 1916 through 1919:
of the

the pottery

pretty 5-inch butter tub of translucent vitrified china decorated with delicate

apple-blossom design. Edges and handles were decorated with coin gold

Drainer was a separate piece decorated with a coin-gold

line.

lines.

This was a

product to be sold for eighty-five cents; not a premium.

Serving dishes, shown in Larkin catalogs from 1905 until

332.

1910, were decorated with clusters of roses in natural coloring

against a pink
fruit

bowl

inches.

and green background with gold

at left

The

is

10 3/i inches

celery tray (front)

is

in diameter;

tracery. Salad or

cake plate

11^4 inches long.

is

12

333.

Plate

(9^

inches) with deep blue-green

border and colorful cluster of roses was probably

made around

1905.

335.

Gold trim and sprays of wild

roses in natural color against a buff

background decorate this 11 -inch

chocolate pot. It was shown in the
catalogs from 1908 until 1911. No
chocolate cups

came with

it.

Cour-

tesy of Mrs. Robert Vidler.

336.

The

is

334.

chocolate

llVi-inch

teaball teapot in Argyle

dated 1914. Decoration

blue against a white body.

Pattern

is

pot

decorated with sprays of poppies

in

color against a green background.

It

was shown

in

Larkin catalogs

from 1905 until 1911.

CUSPIDORS
Cuspidors were shown only in the 1905 catalog. "The decoration is sprays of
chrysanthemums in bluish green applied under the glaze. Embossings traced
with gold."

PART

thirties, the Larkin Company turned almost exclusively to

imported china for premium use because it was less expensive to buy the imported than to buy that made by Buffalo Pottery. As a result of this change,

In the twenties and

Buffalo Pottery thereafter turned to the manufacture

hotel

and

The

and design

of exclusive

institutional ware.

articles discussed in the

remainder of

this

chapter are either nonpremium

Buffalo Pottery items not mentioned previously or special items the pottery

made

during later years.

DRINKING SETS
Drinking

made by

sets that consisted of six

Buffalo Pottery but never

(111.

337)

mugs with handles and a tall tankard were

shown as either premiums or products for

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

168

by the Larkin Company. They came in a variety of designs, colors, and

The earliest sets known, semivitreous with overglaze decoration, are
marked "Buffalo Pottery." Although they are undated, the authors believe they
were made from 1905 to 1908. Some were decorated with decal pictures of the
Old Friar drinking ale on one side of the mug and with roses on the other side.
sale

shapes.

Others bore pictures of Indians. Later on, probably in the 1930's, tankard

with the Friar picture were

made

sets

of vitrified china, on Colorido, Rouge, Cafe

au Lait, Lune, and Ye Old Ivory bodies.

Also made in the thirties on these body colors were Tom and Jerry Sets (111.
352) consisting of a large punch bowl with a dozen drinking mugs. "Tom and
Jerry" in English script was applied under the glaze to each piece.

337.

Drinking

and 1908.
14 inches

set in green,

with multicolor figures, was probably

came in other colors and with various friar

tall. Mugs are 5 A inches. Courtesy of Agnes E.
It

made between 1905

scenes. Tankard-type pitcher

Masters.

is

169

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

MULTIFLEURE

(111.338)

In 1925 the pottery brought out dinnerware with a marbled look that

blending of their

result of a deliberately incomplete

five

The colored

Colorido, Rouge, Cafe au Lait, Lune, and Ye Old Ivory.

mixed

at

random without any

specific plan; thus, the colors

surface application but ran completely through the

devised a French-sounding

name

for this vitrified

was the

basic colored clays:

clays were
were not merely a

body of a piece. The pottery

ware Multifleure and most

marked with it: "Buffalo China, Multifleure."

A number of hotels and restaurants chose dinnerware of Multifleure, and it
was also molded into vases of various sizes and shapes. All Multifleure specimens
pieces are clearly

are quite scarce today. In the absence of definite records,

it

is

believed that pro-

duction of this ware was rather short-lived.

TURKEY SET
In 1937 Buffalo Pottery designed and

(111.

made

340)
a special set of dishes for use

during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. This complete service, which

became known as the Turkey Set, was made in a very limited quantity. Colorido
or yellow was the background color. Each piece was decorated with a harvest
scene around the border; the large rectangular platter had, in addition, a turkey
in the center.

The Turkey

Set

hand-decorated
date, but

is

was

The

vitreous china.

.scenes

were transfer-applied

prints

Ralph Stuart created them. The set bears no

by the mark on the bottom: Colorido Ware, Buffalo China.

in natural colors;

identified

NATURAL WOOD DESIGN

(111.

339)

In 1939 a limited quantity of pieces was made with a wood-grained effect

complete with knots. These pieces were items that are generally made of real
wood both large and individual salad bowls. The Buffalo Pottery specimens
were made of vitrified china, the wood-grain effect being produced by applying
natural

wood

colors with a brush.

These pieces were marked "Natural

Wood

Design."

338.

for the

ple of
right

The 7 /2-inch bowl at left, from the service

Sea Cave Restaurant, is a good examMultifleure Lamelle. The little 4-inch vase at
1

made

is

entirely of Multifleure.

339.
Five-inch bowl in Natural
which was applied by hand.

Wood

Design,

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

170

340.

The Turkey Dinner

set,

de-

signed by Ralph Stuart, was hand-

decorated in bright autumn colors

on a Colorido body. The handsome

large platter measures I8V2 by 13>4
inches. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs.
Barry

PORTLAND VASE

J.

341)

(111.

For three hundred years, one of the most admired works of art has been the
famous "Barberini Vase," which was discovered early in the seventeenth century.
This masterpiece in glass was so

named because

it

was one

of the outstanding

pieces in the collection of the celebrated Barberini family. Later

known,

as

it still is

collection of the
It

was

today, as the Portland Vase. (It

Duchess of Portland

to Josiah

the Portland Vase

Wedgwood,
first

became

it

also

became

part of the famous

in 1785.

in the latter part of the eighteenth century, that

served as an inspiration for reproduction. His replicas

in china, sold to collectors in limited quantities at prohibitive prices,

forerunner of the famous

Wedgwood

China.

Wedgwood made

were the

seven copies of

the Portland Vase, one of which he bestowed on a very dear friend, Joshua

Mayer,

who was

also a notable potter of that day.

Mayer came

United States as the property

whom William Rea had
learned the pottery trade. Through Rea's efforts, the vase was brought to
Buffalo and recast in plaster, but further work was delayed for a long period.
Finally the task of reproduction was entrusted to an assistant, and in 1925
after numerous experiments he succeeded in producing an exquisite counterpart
of the original Portland Vase (111. 341). The assistant's name was George H.
In 1908, the vase given to

of Ernst

Mayer

Wood; he was obviously

mately

six of

to the

of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, from

a potter

and chemist

of considerable talent. Approxi-

the Portland Vases were produced at this time. However, in 1946,

number
by the Art Lamelle Process. Although these were good reproductions,
they did not compare in quality to the ones Wood produced earlier.
From the same clays used in producing the Portland Vase, George Wood
created and designed a number of blue-and-white Wedgwood-like medallions,
which were given to various friends and employees. Among the subjects presented
on the medallions were Liszt, Beethoven, Wagner, Verdi, Elbert Hubbard, George
President Gould used the original plaster cast and reproduced a limited

of the vases

Rodgers.

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

171

Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John D. Larkin (111. 342). The Field
Chicago has one of these medallions in its collection.

Museum

in

Some

of the less familiar items of Buffalo Pottery have been discussed in this

many more are extant and awaiting

research, we still come across pieces that we

chapter, but the authors feel certain that

discovery. After our

know

many

years of

For example, included in a lot of dishes recently purchased

from an old local estate was a boat-shaped serving piece (111. 354) about A>A
inches long marked "Buffalo China" and dated 1918. This was indeed a unique
did not

find. The
made by

ware

existed.

entire inside of the piece

of this type

had ever

is

highly iridescent the only iridescent item

we have ever
been made by the

Buffalo Pottery that

seen. In fact,

we

pottery. This

little

did not
piece

is

know

that

decorated

outside with hand-painted blue forget-me-nots and green leaves against a pale

yellow background; the edges are trimmed in gold.

How many novelty-type items the pottery may have produced is unknown. A
few of them are pictured in this book cowboy-hat ashtrays and snail-shaped
toothpick holders, both shown in 111. 354, and canister sets (111. 353). But the
pottery is known also to have put out corn dishes, candleholders, bud vases,
additional mugs, and a variety of odd serving pieces all in various colors and
patterns.

In any case,

it

should not be concluded that the articles mentioned and/or

pictured in this book represent the entire production of Buffalo Pottery.

341.

The famous Portland Vase

as

reproduced

Pottery in very limited numbers. Height

vase was

made

in

Harry H. Larkin,

1925 and again

in

is

at Buffalo

8 inches.

The

1946. Courtesy of

Jr.

342.

Identical to deep blue

jasperware

is

this oval

and white

medallion (7*4 by

6 inches) portrait of John D. Larkin. It is

"Wood" and dated 1925. Courtesy of Mrs. Walter B. Robb.

signed

343.

Dated 1906,

colorful plate in

this

lOVi-inch

Japan pattern

is

hand-decorated.

344.

Ornate hand-decorated

10-

inch plate with considerable gold

tracing

This hand-decorated plate

345.

is

the same size and date as the one

in

111.

344. Pattern

is

Bangor. (See

also color plate CI.)

Hand-decorated plate

346.
Statler

inches and
of

It

Winnie Kurtz.

Indian Tree dinnerware pat-

347.
tern

is

in

measures 11*4
dated 1910. Courtesy

pattern.

was copied from the

similar

English pattern around 1930.

The

decoration was done by applying a

brightly

glaze.

colored

decal

under the

The pattern was made

against various background colors.

348.

on

Mandalay pattern was made

various

colored

backgrounds,

the brightly colored decal decoration

being applied under the glaze.

Circa 1930.

is

dated 1906.

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

173

Nine-inch, circa-1930 plate

349.

decorated in bright colors. Body

is

is

hand-

Rouge

Lamelle (pink with white center).

Plate (9 inches) with Colorido

Lamelle body is decorated with English
hunting scene, applied under the glaze

350.

as a brightly colored decal. Circa 1930.

352.

Tom and

Jerry set has black lettering on a

Colorido body. Bowl

is

11*4 inches across, 6 A inches

l

high.

353.
tern

Cannister sets in a blue-and-white

were made

at

pieces are only a small part of the

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spranger.

Punch bowl with Fallowfield Hunt scenes should not be

confused with Deldare. Here the hand-decorator scenes are on a
351.

Colorido body. Bowl

is

14

inches high, 9 inches in diameter.

Circa 1930. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Crane.

floral pat-

the pottery in 1906. These two

set.

Courtesy of

made

Novelty items

354.

at Buffalo Pottery.

Top row (from

left)

nut dish,

highly iridescent inside, hand-painted with forget-me-nots, dated 1918; clam-

shaped white ashtray with gold trim; cowboy hat ashtray in Blue Lune. Lower
row (from left) white snail-shaped toothpick holder; 4-inch white chocolate
cup with gold trim, flanked by vitrified china handles made for silverware for
the Biltmore Hotel; candleholder (came in various body colors) made for the
Hotel Commodore.
:

355.

Novelty white-bodied

mugs decorated in varied colors were made in the pottery's early days.

inches.

B. Stuart signed this 10-inch

356.

plate titled "Fisher Village in Holland,"

ration

and dated 1912. The decois

in beautiful

shades of blue.

Courtesy of Frances Bryan Murray.

357.

Size, date,

the

same

111.

356.

however,

and signature are

shown in

as for the plate

The
is

plate

shown

here,

hand-decorated blue

and white that resembles Delft. On

the back it is labeled "Aonia Ware."
Courtesy of Frances Bryan Murray.

358.

Hand-decorated with geraniums in a variety

bowl is dated 1907.

of colors, this 3 3/i-inch rose

Height, 4V4

MIS( KM. ANKOUS

PIECES

175

359.

Ten-inch vase

Delft-like decoration

in
is

piece. Courtesy of Mr.

blue and white

an early, undated

and Mrs. Ralph

Stuart.

360.

Jumbo blue and white cup meas-

ures 6Va inches across, 314 inches high.

an early undated piece. Reverse

a boy fishing. Jumbo-size
cup was also made in Blue Willow pattern. Courtesy of Mrs. Walter B. Robb.
This

is

side pictures

361.

Large white bone china teapot has

gold handle, spout, and trim. This ware

was made exclusively for the John D.

Larkin family, and Mrs. Larkin's name
appears on

it

in

gold.

This

is

another

piece marked on the bottom "First China

Made

in

1905.

(See

Buffalo" but the date here is

111.
322.) Courtesy of Mrs.

Walter B. Robb.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

176

362.

In 1909, the pottery used Dr. Syntax scenes in blue, similar to those on Stafford-

shire ware. Rectangular platter 14

by 11 inches shows "Dr. Syntax Advertisement

for a

Wife." Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

363.

This 9-inch plate offers another example

of a Dr. Syntax scene in blue. Like the platter

in

111.

362,

it is

dated 1909. The same scenebill with the Land-

"Dr. Syntax disputing his

lady" also appears on the 1911 Emerald Deldare teapot in 111. 179. Not only is there no
mistaking the color difference between the
Syntax blue pieces and Emerald Deldare; the
blue pieces have typical Clews

floral

borders,

whereas the Emerald Deldare borders are

ways Art Nouveau

in character. It

is

al-

also inter-

esting to note the variation in minor details

Courtesy of the Buffalo

within the scene

itself.

and Erie County

Historical Society.

MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

Emerald green china vase is decorated with

Vase measures 8 inches and is
dated 1910. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

177

Vase (8V2 inches) with cobalt blue body has

364.

365.

sterling silver overlay.

turquoise decoration around the neck and heavy gold

encrustation over the entire vase. Inside

is

Circa 1910. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

also gold.

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

178

366.

An

unusually handsome 9-inch plate

made

around 1910. Hand decoration is in a variety of colors on an ivory body, the center figure being entirely
in pure gold. Courtesy of the Vogel family.

367.

The

plate

is

early piece.

369.

1913. Plate measures 10'/2 inches.

Courtesy of the Vogel family.

biling plates.

plate

the center of the 9-inch scalloped

Background is gray, highgood deal of gold trim. This is an

Courtesy of the Vogel family.

lighted with a

Blue and white plate titled

"The Land of Memory" is dated
368.

girl in

hand-painted.

This 9!/2 -inch hand-decorated

is

one of

a series of
It

automo-

was painted and

370.

mono-

Plate from the set of

grammed dinnerware made

for the

personal use of Louis Bown. Pieces

1918.

Monogram

signed by R. Stuart. Courtesy of

are dated

the Vogel family.

pure gold; border is maroon. Courtesy of Frances Bryan Murray.

is

in

Commercial Service

Clients

were taken from old Buffalo Pottery workbooks conand decorative designs created for clients. Sometimes
the client's name was incorporated into a drawing; sometimes it was written
alongside the drawing; but sometimes the drawing gave no clue whatsoever to
the identity of the client for whom it had been made. A few drawings were dated,
and these dates are shown after the name, in parentheses, in the list given here,
which incidentally contains only a small fraction of Buffalo Pottery's commercial
clients, since the majority of the drawings were unidentified.
Unfortunately, in many cases where the client's name was indicated, it appeared only in part and/or without an address. Since the list is a lengthy one,
and many of the firms on it may be long gone from the commercial scene, the
authors have not attempted to research further into these names and addresses.
Doubtless, the older reader will recognize the names of firms once active in his
own locality. Of course, many of these restaurants, hotels, clubs, and so on, may
still be in existence.
The authors have seen countless handsome pieces from commercial services,
specimens any collector would be proud to own. However attractive and interesting these may be, though, not all commercial tableware made by Buffalo Pottery
was so fine and artistic. Some was certainly relatively plain, heavy, and perhaps
strictly utilitarian. Hence, the collector may have to do a bit of searching to find
examples of the better-quality services and designs that appeal to him. This
list, as far as the authors know, includes no clients who chose from stock patterns,
and none that date from the post- 1940 period, and so it should be helpful to

The names

that follow

taining emblems, crests,

the searcher.

& A. M. Masons
Adam's House (1917)

Alpha Zeta, Cornell University,

Adelphia Coffee Shop,

Alpine Restaurant, Ithaca, N.Y.

Avery's Inn

American
American
American
American
American

Automobile Club of Buffalo

A. F.

Philadelphia, Pa.

Agwi Lines (1928)

Airport Cafe

Alaska Steamship Co.,

Wash.
Alden Grange #1130
Seattle,

Alexian Brothers Hospital

Ithaca, N.Y.

Washington, D.C.

Cafe
Export Lines
Hotel Association

Mail Line

B.P.O.E. #211, Jersey City, N.J.

War

Bakersfield Lodge, B.P.O.E.

Ann Maude
Oklahoma

Mothers

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Cafeteria,

Arctic Club, Seattle, Washington

Alpha Chi Rho

Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Gamma Rho,

Argyle Hotel

Alpha Kappa Lambda

Army & Navy

Club, Manila,

Arrowhead Springs,
Astor Hotel,

Lunch
Whitcomb
Bar 37 Guest Ranch

Baltimore Dairy

City, Okla.

All state institutions, Salem, Ore.

Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Atlantic Coastline Railroad,

P.I.

J.A.

Barcalo, Buffalo, N.Y.

Battleship

Calif.

New

Bausch &

York City
Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Ga.

Oregon (1933)

Lomb

Buffalo, N.Y.

179

Optical Co.,

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

180

Baylor University,

Waco,

and Houston, Tex.

Dallas,

Cedarbrook Country Club

Centenary Church

W. Cushman

Charles

Beefsteak Barnie

F.

Delta Sorority, Columbia, Mo.

Delta Tau Delta, Chicago,

& A.M.

#879

Belle River, Kansas City

Denver, Col.

Chatham Bars Inn

Bellevue-Stratford,

Department

Philadelphia, Pa.

Chesapeake and Ohio Hospital,

Belmont School
Bendix Aviation Corp,
South Bend, Ind.

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad,

Bettner

Huntington,

of the Navy,
Washington, D.C.
Dexter School
Dinty Moore's
Dold Packing Company

Dr. Cousin's Private Hospital,

Railroad, the "Zephyr"

#124

Biscayne Bay Lodge

Chicago, Milwaukee

& A.M.

&

St.

St.

Paul

Railroad

Bismarck Garden (1917)

Bismarck Hotel (1917),
Chicago,

Va.

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy

Birchwood Arbor
F.

W.

Covington, Ky.

Camp

Barnabas

Drake Hotel, Chicago,

Dugans

Chief Lunch
Children's Orthopedic Hospital

Blackstcne Hotel, Fort Worth, Tex.

(1928)

Blessed's

Childs Hotel, Atlanta, Ga.

Board

Childs Restaurant

of Education,

Eagle Cafe (1923)

East Aurora Sun Diet Sanatorium
East Dallas Christian Church
Eastern Steamship Company,
Boston, Mass.

Rochester, N.Y.

China Royal

Edgemoor

Boston City Club

Boston Oyster House

Christ Cella

El Morocco

Boy Scouts

Churchill

Christ

of America,

New

Bradley Transportation

York City

Company

Brae Lodge
Brevoort Hotel

Electric Waffle Inn (1927)

Church

Downs Race Track

Churchill Hotel, San Diego, Calif.

City Club of Utica, N.Y.

Clark Restaurant, Cleveland, Ohio

Club Palm
Club Palmetto

Home (1925)
Brooklyn College

British

Cohasset Gulf Club

Brown Derby, Los Angeles,

Calif.

Buffalo Athletic Club, Buffalo, N.Y.

Buffalo

Chamber

Commerce

of

111.

Chicago Northwestern Line

111.

National Council,

Elkwood (1926)
Club (1917)
El-Ro-Do
Emery Park Inn (1928)
Engineer's Club of Philadelphia
Epsilon Delta Chapter of
Sigma Nu Fraternity
Ellicott

Colfox-Rebecca Lodge
College Inn (1925)

Eppler's (1925)

Collegium Lafayettense Veritas

Essex House

Erie Railroad, Jersey City, N.J.

Evanston Golf Club

(1917)
Buffalo Club, Buffalo, N.Y.

Collier Service Corporation

Buffalo Consistory Valley of

Colombo Cafe

F.

Colonial Club, Princeton, N.J.

Fairview Country Club

Colonial Steamship Lines

Fairview Grille

Columbian Club
Commercial Club

Fallen Leaf, Lake

Liberabit

Buffalo, N.Y.

Buffalo General Hospital,

Buffalo, N.Y.

Buffalo

Launch Club

Buffalo Trap

&

Field Club (1928)

& Squash Club

Buffalo Tennis

(1927)
Burbridge Hotel, Jacksonville, Fla.
Burt Cottage

Commodore

of Fresno, Calif.

Hotel,

New

York City

Cooper Carlton, Chicago

Copper Teakettle
Country Club (1928),
Camagiiey, Cuba

C.R.I. Railroad

Cafe Milano

Curriers Congregational

G.B. Transit Co.

Church

California Transportation
of

New

Company

York

Camp Cheno
Canadian National System
Canandaigua Pale Ale
Candlelight House,

St.

Louis,

Caroline Mission

Casa de Alex (school club)

Castle Square Hotel (1917),
Boston, Mass.

Tahoe

& Faxon

Faxon, Williams,

Fenimore Country Club

Feyn Court Inn
Fidelity Trust Club
Fifty-fourth Brigade, Buffalo, N.Y.
Stuart, Buffalo, N.Y.

First Baptist

Church

of Valligo

(1921), Calif.
Flamingo, Miami, Fla.
Floridian Hotel,

Tampa,

Fla.

Forest Service, Department of

California Club

Calumet Club

& A.M. Masons

5070 Clan

Country Club, Westfield, N.J.

Country Club of Havana
Country Club of Reno, Nev.

CD. &

111.

Denver Country Club,

Mo.

Community Center
Dadna Lines

Franklin Hospital,

Davenports
Davis Cafe (1926)

Fredericka

Day Lines

Frisby Memorial Hospital

Daytona Beach Lodge #270

A.F. & A.M.
Deaconess Society (1927)

Furness Withy

Deco Restaurant, Buffalo, N.Y.

Delta Kappa Epsilon

Gandy's Sea Food (1927),

D. H.

Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

San Francisco,

Home
&

Calif.

(1925)
Co., Limited

(1928)

Buffalo, N.Y.

181

COMMERCIAL SERVICE CLIENTS

Hyde Park

Knickerbocker Inn

Garret Club

Hotel

George Diamond Steaks (1927),

Hotel Kimball

Knollwood Country Club

Hotel Klein

Knowltson's

Hotel Lafayette (1926),

Kraft Cheese

Buffalo, N.Y.

Georgia's Place

ECugler'a Restaurant,

Buffalo, N.Y.

Gettysburg College,

Hotel Leighton, Los Angeles, Calif.

Gettysburg, Pa.
Ginter Restaurant, Boston, Mass.

Hotel Lorraine

Guard

Hotel McAlpin,

College, Philadelphia, Pa.

Globe Dairy Lunch,

Los Angeles, Calif.
Goodrich Steamship Lines (1926)
Governor Dummer Academy,
Byfield, Mass.

New

York City

Hotel Martin, Milwaukee, Wis.

Hotel Melia, Ponce, P.R.

Hotel Morrison, Terrace Garden

Hotel Oceanic (1926)

Hotel Pfister

Great Northern Mar (1917)

Hotel Putnam (1925),

De Land, Fla.

Greenbrier

Hotel Robert Fulton (1926)

Greenmill Gardens

Hotel Sherman (1916)

Hotel Statler

Graduates Association

Guam

Hotel, Island of

Guam

Hotel Traymore, Montreal, Can.

Healys (1917)

Idlewood
Jllini Country Club,

Buffalo, N.Y.

Herbert's
Hillside Hotel

Duluth, Minn.

Lancey House
Langley's, Portland, Me.

Lang's

Hotel Touraine

Laramie Golf Club (1925)

Hotel Utah
Hotel Vermont, Burlington, Vt.

Larkin Co.

Laubes Old Spain (1925),

Hotel Washington,

Buffalo, N.Y.

Colon, P.R.

Lawrence
Lee Sanitarium

Huntington Restaurant,
Portland, Me.

Leeland Parker (1925)

Huyler's

Leo A. Schueneman Co.

Springfield,

Dairy,

Henderson Hotel

Lakeview Tea Room,

Lamda Chi Alpha

Hackensack Hospital
Hamilton Field
Harlem Valley Chapter IOES
Home, New York City
Harmony Lodge, F. & A.M.
Harry Howell
Hart's Lunch, San Francisco, Calif.
Harvard Club of Boston
Harvard Club of New York
Haverford College
Portland, Ore.

La Delfa
La Flor de Mexico (1925)
La Salle Hotel, Chicago, 111.
Lackawanna Railroad
Lake Arrowhead Hotel,
Lake Arrowhead, Calif.
Lakeside Hospital

Hotel Thorndike, Boston, Mass.

Heathman Hotel,
Henel's Kenmore

Philadelphia, Pa.

Los Angeles Biltmore,

111.

Masonic Hospital
Illinois Sugar Bowl, Peoria, 111.
Indian Mills Country Club (1927)
International Business Machines
Illinois

Hitching Post

International Casino

Hobart
Hogi
Hollywood Tavern (1928)

International Mercantile Marine,

New

Los Angeles, Calif.

Lido Hotel
Lil's Tavern, N. Hoosick, N.Y.
Lincoln Tavern (1923)
Loft Agency, Danbury, Conn.

Lord Strathcona's Horse R.C.

Sgts. Mess
Lorenzo's Restaurant

(1933),

Buffalo, N.Y.

York City

Los Angeles City Club

Irondeqoit Country Club

Lou G.

Segel, Inc.

Hotel Alabama

Hotel Apuloy

Jack Dempsey's Restaurant,

New

Hotel Atlantic

M.K. & T. Railroad Co.,

Kansas City, Mo.

York City

Hotel Baltimore (1926)

Hotel Belvidere

Jack Henry, Inc.

Hotel Bentley, Alexandria, La.

Jol Sanitary Coffee

Hotel Bonta

Jolly Joan,

Hotel Bossert, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Hotel Bristol

Jung Hotel, New Orleans, La.

Junior League

Hotel Carlyle (1926)

Hotel Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C.
Hotel Clark
Hotel Congress & Annex
Hotel Dempsey, Macon, Ga.
Hotel Dupont, Boston and Paris

Hotel Graystone, Buffalo, N.Y.

Hotel Henry (1917),
Pittsburgh, Pa.

Hotel Henry Watterson

John's

Magnus Hotel

Rendezvous

Shop

San Francisco,

Mann's
Calif.

Mare Island, San Francisco,

Markeen Hotel (1917)

Calif.

Marlborough-Blenheim,
Atlantic City, N.J.

of C, Brooklyn, N.Y.

"Mary

Alice"

Masonic Temple (1925),

Kane's
Keeler's Restaurant, Albany, N.Y.

Orlando, Fla.

Kappa Alpha Theta

Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Sigma
Kenmore

Massachusetts General Hospital

Kennilworth of Los Angeles (1928)

Merchant's Cafe

King's

Tea Garden

(1930^, Boston, Mass.

Medford's

Medina Memorial Hospital

Mercy Hospital

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTEBY

182
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios,

Andrew's Scottish Society,

Paris Hospital (1933)

Park Central Hotel, New York City
Park Club

St.

Park Lane, Buffalo, N.Y.

Parkway Hotel

St.

Clair's, Inc.,

St.

John's Ladies Aid

Monticello Steamship Co.

Patrons of Husbandry

St.

John's

Morgan's Red Coach Inn,

Pell's

St.

Luke's Hospital, Denver, Col.

St.

Matthew's Church

Culver City, Calif.

Metropolitan Cafe
Metropolitan Life Insurance

Midway Gardens

(1927)

Peninsular

Closter, N.J.

Morrison's Cafeteria, Jackson, Miss.

Morrison's Cafeteria, Mobile, Ala.

Morton Chapter #164

Morton Lodge #204 F.A.M.

& Occidental Steamship

Co.

Penn Athletic Club,

University Park, Pa.

Mrs. Field's Place

Pennsylvania Railroad

Munson Steamship Lines

Pere Marquette Hotel

Ludington, Mich.

Army

Phi Delta Theta

Philadelphia, Pa.

Phi Epsilon Phi

Savern Restaurants,

Phi

Kappa

Phillips Exeter

Los Angeles,

Photographers' Association of

Nichols School

Pilot

Scherer's

Montgomery, N.Y.

Schenplein's,

America

Schroeder Hotels, Chicago,

Sea Cave

Pickwick
Pier 33

Seminole Inn

Shackamaxon

Normandy Hotel

Post Tavern (1926)

Shaftil's

North American Hotel

North Java Fire Co.
Norwegian Steamship Lines
Norwood Golf Club
Nypen Club

Puerto Rico Lines (1927)

Sherry's,

York, N.Y.

174th Infantry, Buffalo, N.Y.

135th Infantry, Minneapolis, Minn.

Puget Sound Hotels

Shoal Water

Pullman Co.

Sigma Chi Nu, Alfred, N.Y.

Silver Tip Ranch
Slough Creek

Oriole Cafeterias, Baltimore,

&

Red

Smoke Tree Ranch,

Palm Springs, Calif.
Falls,

N.Y.

Line

Md.

Stans

Oxford Hotel, Denver, Col.

Company

Pacific

Steamship

Pacific

Union Club,

San Francisco, Calif.

Palace Hotel, San Francisco, Calif.
Palace Hotel, Shanghai, China
Panama R.R. Steamship Co.
Paredone Golf Club

Richfield Springs

Lodge #482,

Ga.
Rideau Club
Rock Island Streamliner
Royal Apartments
Royal Montreal Golf Club (1923)

Rich's, Atlanta,

Roycroft Inn
Rudill's Coffee
S.S.

Shop

Leviathan, U.S. Lines,

New
S.S.

York City
Manhattan, U.S. Lines,

New

Sociedad Espanola, P.R.

Solari's,

Regina Council, K of
Reno Country Club
Republic Cafe

Richmond Hospital

Oregon Agricultural College

Otis

Tacoma, Wash.
Rapputak
Red Coach Inn, Niagara

F.A.M.

Ontario Club (1927)

York City

Pulako's

Restaurant Madrillon

174th Regiment

New

Ship's Gallery

Rainier National Park,

Oakgrove Cafe
O'Henry Hotel, Greensboro, N.C.
Old Cathedral (1925), Chicago, 111.
Old Heidelberg
Old Toll Gate (1930)
Olive Chapter #325 (1925)

111.

Seminole Cafe

Sea Food (1933)

Polo Club

New

Village,

Calif.

Lunch

Pinehurst Department Store (1917)

Greenwich

York City

Schaber's Cafeteria,

Academy,

York World's Fair 1939

Niagara Power
Niagara Sanitarium
Niagara University, Niagara 2, N.Y.
Nick's,

New

Savoy Cafe (1926)

Fsi, Calif.

Exeter, N.H.

New

Lodge #17

Savarin's Restaurant,

Pere Marquette S.S. Lines

& Hartford Railroad

Boston, Mass.

San Diego & Arizona Railroad

(1923)
San Jose Hospital, San Jose, Calif.
Sandy Yacht Club
Saratoga Tavern
Saturn Club
Savannah Lines (1923)

Pere Marquette Railroad,

Co., Boston, Mass.

Boniface

Salvation

Pennsylvania State University,

Mousan FLT #26

N.Y., N.H.

St.

St. Peter's

Philadelphia, Pa.

New Bedford College

New England Steamship Co.
New York Central Railroad,
New York City
New York Guild Hospital

Buffalo, N.Y.

York City

New

Orleans, La.

South Shore Country Club

Southern California Edison Com-

pany
Southern Pacific Railroad,
San Francisco, Calif.

Southern Railroad Co.,

Washington, D.C.
Southside Swedish Club

Company

Standard Oil

Standard Oil of
State of

New

New

of

Havana

York

York

(1920), Buffalo, N.Y.

Stevens College Fraternity,
Stein's

Hoboken,

N.J.

Stuart (1923), Springfield,

Stuyvesant Hotel (1923),

Buffalo, N.Y.

Sulgrave's

Club

111.

COMMERCIAL SERVICE CLIENTS

The Union League,

Sussman Volk Delicatessen

Philadelphia, Pa.

Syke's

183

University of Redlands,

Redlands, Calif.

The Vernon Inn

Tahoe Tavern, Lake Tahoe,

Calif.

Tenafly School Cafeteria,

Tenafly, N.J.

Thorwald (1926)
Tom's Dixie Kitchen,

The Addison
The Admiral Line, P.S.S. Co.
The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Park,

Manila, P.I.

Tony's Gengia's Atlantic Lobster

Calif.

The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

Allerton (1923)

Biltmore, Los Angeles, Calif.

Castilla, St. Louis,

Mo.

Cawthorn

Commander Hotel
Dunes Club, Narraganset,

R.I.

Eastbourne (1925),

Club
Ferguson
Ellicott

Irving (1927)

Union League Club, Chicago, 111.

Union Pacific Club
Union Pacific Railroad
U.S. American Legion
U.S. Army Medical Department
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries,
Washington, D.C.

Vacaville

Lodge #134,

WEBR

Radio Station, Buffalo, N.Y.

Waldorf Lunch (1917)

Waldorf Systems, Inc.,
Boston, Mass.

Walters of Brookline

Warburton House,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Warm Springs Foundation,

Warm Springs, Ga.
Washington Boulevard Hospital
Western Stores Company
Westminster Church
Westover Hotel
White Cafeterias
White Cotton Hotel
White Sulphur Springs
Wianno Club, Wianno, Mass.
Wildroot
Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Wm.

Filenes

Company,

Boston, Mass.

Willworth Cafeteria,

Framingham, Mass.

Marion
Masquers
Masons

U.S. Grant Hotel

Wilshire Golf Club

U.S. Lines

Wilson Inn

Mayflower, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Military

Oasis

West

Academy,

Point, N.Y.

U.S. Naval

Academy,
Md.

Annapolis,

Osage Sweet

U.S. Public Health Service

Otesage

U.S. Shipping Board

Pittsburgh Davis

Unity Inn

Red Rooster

University Club (1930)

Rockett

University

St.

Charles

Shelbourne

Lunch (1917)

Women's City Club, Boston, Mass

Women's Club of Hollywood
Women's Gettysburg College
Wongs, London, England
Woodfoods Club
Wranglers Fraternity
Wyomissing Club
Ye Bullpen Inn

University of Buffalo

Y.M.C.A.
Y.W.C.A.

University of California,

Yellowstone Park Hotel,

Stockton

Berkeley, Calif.

Tacoma

University of Illinois

Trocadero

University of Maine, Orono, Me.

& A.M.

Waldorf-Astoria

U.S. Forest Service, Citadel, Mont.

U.S. Marine Corps (1922)

F.

Vassil's Brothers

Majestic

Moraine (1925),
Highland Park, 111.

The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

Trim-Too
Turtle Lake Club (1930)
Tuxedo Memorial Hospital
Twentieth Century Limited
250 Coast Artillery

Fo' Cas'le

Genesee
Gotham, New York City
Hargrave (1923)
Homestead

Lotus Club (1927),

New York City

The
The
The
The
The
The

House
Topa-Topa Lodge (1930)
Topeka Hill School, Topeka, Kan.
Traymore Cafeteria (1926),
Montreal, Can.

Chanticleer

Atlantic City, N.J.

The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

Theta Delta
Theta Upsilon Omega
Thomasville Shooting Club

Gardiner, Mont.

Zion Mission Church (1923)

Glossary
Art Nouveau: Style of decoration and design popular between about 1885 and
1910. In America,

was evident mostly

it

volved ornament. Art Nouveau

is

in the decorative field,

and mainly

in-

characterized by swirling lines, curved forms,

and profuse use of such curvilinear motifs

flowers,

as

vines,

seaweed, and

elongated female bodies with long flowing hair.

made of clay that

Oven in which

Art Pottery: Articles

Biscuit, or Bisque, Kiln:

Bone China:

are unique in decoration or form.

pottery

is

fired before

Vitreous, translucent pottery containing

bone

it

has been glazed.

ash. It

is

delicate in

appearance but very strong.

Cafe Au Lait: Trade name used by Buffalo Pottery for tan solid-body vitreous
china.

Casting: Shaping a fluid material (which subsequently solidifies) by pouring

it

into a mold.

Ceramics: All products

made from

clay.

China: Glazed or unglazed vitreousware used for tableware, sanitary

articles,

and artware.
Clay:

natural material characterized

by

its

plasticity, either as

it

comes from

the clay pit or after being pulverized and mixed with water.

Coin Gold: Gold of the purity legalized for use in coins.

Colorido Ware: Buffalo Pottery trade name for yellow solid-body vitreous china.
Copper Cylinder Decoration: Design applied to an object by means of a specially
prepared paper that has been passed over a revolving drum on which the design was first engraved. In other words, ink or color applied to the design on
the drum is transferred by means of the special paper to a third object.
Decalcomania: Process of transferring designs or pictures to glass, china, and
various other surfaces by means of a specially prepared paper. Known as
"decal" for short. Decalcomania, which is really only one of the types of transfer printing, usually is done in more than one color.
Decorating, or Muffled, Kiln: Oven where pottery is fired at a low temperature,
after the application of colored decoration, to fix the decoration and make it
durable.

Decorator:

person

a design placed on

Designer:

person

who

applies color to a piece of

ware

that already has

had

it.

who makes

a drawing, plan, or sketch to serve as a pattern.

Encrustation: Decorative layer of costly material.

English Ball Clay: Type of clay found in England; incorporated into ceramic
bodies to give them plasticity during shaping.

Engraving:
graving
cylinder.

A method

may

that

which

is

its

application to the ceramic

field,

en-

on a copper
can then be trans-

refer to the process of incising the desired design

When

ferred to the

of decoration. In

the design has been colored or inked,

ware by means

of transfer paper.

it

Engraved decoration

is

also

incised directly into the surface of the object being decorated.

Fat Oil: Turpentine that has been allowed to evaporate partially so that is thicker.
When colors are mixed with it before being applied to an object, they will not
run together.

184

GLOSSARY
Glaze:

185

glassy layer on the surface of a ceramic product achieved

made up

a coating

of certain specific materials

and baking the

by applying

article in a kiln

become hard and permanent.

baking glazed pieces for purpose of hardening the glaze.
Hand-Decorated: Colored by hand, though the pattern or design was applied by
until the coating has

Oven

Glost Kiln:

for

transfer print.

Hand-Painted: Decorated entirely by hand, both in design and coloring.

Jigger: Machine for shaping pottery by means of a tool fixed at a short distance
from the surface of a plaster mold that is mechanically rotated on the head of
a vertical spindle.

Jug: Container for liquids. Usually has a spout or narrow neck and a handle.
Junks: Pieces of clay cut out with a spade from the mass in the clay cellar after

mellowing process.
Kaolin: Fine white firing clay consisting essentially of kaolinite.
Kiln: High-temperature oven used for firing of ceramic ware.

Lamelle: Buffalo Pottery trade name for type of ware with an inlaid center of
clay, which, in combination with colored bodies, reinforces an article.

Lawn: Fine mesh screen

or sieve through

which the clay

slip passes to

remove

impurities.

Liner: Person

who

places

all

Lune Ware: Name given by

An

Medallion:

the lines on the ware.

Buffalo Pottery to blue solid-body vitreous china.

oval or circular design with relief carving, resembling a medal

in shape.

Molds Hollow form

:

for

shapping of pottery.

Multifleure: Buffalo Pottery trade

name

for a type of

ware that

utilized five dif-

ferent colored clays, resulting in marblelike effect.

Overglaze Decoration: Decoration applied to pottery after

The ware

is

it

has been glazed.

again fired and the colors fuse onto the glaze, the decoration be-

coming durable. Because the decorating fire can be

with overglaze decoration, a more varied palette of

at a

lower temperature

colors

is

available than

with underglaze decoration.

Piecework: Incentive system whereby employees are paid by the amount of work
they produce instead of an hourly or weekly salary.

Pitcher:

container for holding and pouring liquids, with a lip on one side and

handle on the other.

An ornamental tablet of pottery intended

Plaque:

to

be hung up

as a wall deco-

ration.

Porcelain: Fine, translucent hard earthenware with a transparent glaze; china.

Potter's

Wheel:

rotating horizontal disk

upon which

clay

is

molded

into dishes,

etc.

Pottery:

Any product made from

Premium:

Print Shop:

fired clay.

reward, especially one given as an incentive for purchasing items.

Department where decals and

transfer prints are

made and

applied

to ware.

Printing (Transfer Printing): Process of decoration by which a single colored

pattern

is

transferred directly from a printing plate or roller

by means

of thin

paper.
Mill: A machine for consolidating plastic clay into a firm column.
Pulldown: Part of the jigger that holds the tool for shaping the ware.
Rococo: A period of art circa 1715-1760. Nature was the source of inspiration.
Decoration was small and human in scale, as opposed to the monumental forms

Pug

of the baroque. Flowers, especially roses,

of rococo motifs.

and

rustic scenes are characteristic

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

186

Rouge Ware: Name given by

Buffalo Pottery to pink solid-body vitreous ware.

which pottery ware can be

to protect the ware from contamination by kiln gases.

Sagger:

fireclay box, usually oval, in

Second: Any piece of ware that has a slight imperfection.

third or fourth

had more

serious imperfections. Class

set in the kiln,

Ware

classed as a

was determined by an

inspector.

An opaque

Semiporcelain:

porcelain with a finish like that of earthenware. Ab-

sorbs impurities and grease readily.

Same

Semivitreous China:
Slip:

as semiporcelain china.

suspension in water of clay or other ceramic materials, used for casting

in molds.

Solid

Body Colors Colors

:

Steel Engraving:

Stove
it

that are consistent throughout the entire piece of ware.

Etched design on a

Room: Room

that

is

steel plate or roller.

heated slightly to remove moisture from the clay after

has been molded.

Suspension:

mixture in which very small particles of a solid remain suspended

without dissolving.

Tankard: Tall mug, usually with a handle and hinged cover.

Tennessee Ball Clay: A clay found in Tennessee that is incorporated

in

bodies to give them plasticity during shaping and vitrification during

ceramic
firing.

Transfer Print: Tissue paper on which a sticky ink design has been applied and
will

be transferred

Turner: Person

who

to the bisque ware.

forms things or shapes a substance on a lathe.

Underglaze Decoration: Decoration applied to pottery before it has been glazed.

Because it is finally covered by the glaze, such decorations are completely
durable. The subsequent glost firing is at such a high temperature that the
range of available colors for decoration is limited.
Vitrified China: A strong high-grade ceramic ware fired at a high temperature
to a glasslike finish. Has a low 'water-absorption rate.
Whirler: Hand-operated turntable upon which plaster molds are placed. Pieces
not perfectly round are formed on whirlers.
Ye Olde Ivory: Name given by Buffalo Pottery to ivory solid-body vitreous china.

Bibliography

Booklets

Andrews, Peter C, "The Canadian Shore," Adventures in Western New York

History, Volume XIV, Western New York Foundation, 1966.
Bown, W. E., "Buffalo Pottery Salesman Book," Buffalo Pottery, Buffa'o.
"Buffalo Pottery Blue Willow," Buffalo Pottery, Buffalo.

"Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Annual Report," Cleveland, 1959.

"China Its Origin and Manufacture," Buffalo Pottery, Buffalo.
Harland, Marion, My Trip Through the Larkin Factories, Larkin Company,
Buffalo, 1913.

Martin, Darwin, "The Larkin Office

Was

the First to

Make

Card Ledger,"

Buffalo, 1932.

"The Famous Barberini-Portland Vase," Buffalo Pottery, Buffalo, 1946.

"The Potter's Art," Larkin Company, Buffalo, 1905.
Books
Dodd, A. E., Dictionary of Ceramics, Philosophical Library, New York, 1964.
Hill, Henry W., Municipality of Buffalo A History, Volume I, Lewis Historical
Publishing Company,

Inc.,

New

York, 1923.

Magazines

Dee Albert, "Buffalo Pottery's Deldare Ware," Spinning Wheel,

March, 1963.
The Live Wire (Journal of Commerce, Niagara Area), Volume 2, Number I,

Gernert,

1910.

Newspapers
Buffalo Courier Express, October 24, 1902;

May

29, 1904;

March

December

19, 1927; July 6, 1930;

4, 1902; January 11, 1903;

January 28, 1938; November 11,

1940.

Buffalo Evening News, July

1940; April 25, 1940;

April

3,

8,

May

1902; April 12, 1939; October

16, 1940;

November

23, 1940;

4,

1939;

January

March
15,

1965.

October 11, 1908.

Buffalo Chinas China Clipper, Volume I, Number I, November, 1964.
Industry in Buffalo and Niagara Frontier Scrap Book, Volumes 3, 4, 5.

Illustrated Express,

Thesis
Schlei,

Mildred

B.,

"The Larkin Company," 1932.

187

28,

1947;

Index

Beverly, 158, 159

Biddle, H., 89

Abino Ware, 28, 125-27, 128-34

Biltmore,

Advertising items, 28, 63-64, 72-73,

74,

75

"All

Dutchman

(Los

Angeles),

153,

183
Biltmore Hotel (N.Y.), 143, 174

Alden, John, 47, 118

Aldin, Cecil Charles Windsor, 79, 86,

87
you have

The

decorators, 21,

do

teach
English," 79, 101
to

to

the

"American Beauty vase," 120

Anna, L., 82, 122, 124
"Aonia ware," 174
Arcade Hotel, 21
Argyle pattern, 167
Arlington, 158
Art Lamelle Process, 170
Art Nouveau, 43, 44, 49, 80, 107, 108,
110, 111, 117, 120, 157, 176, 184
Artistic Shape, 165
Artistic Toilet Soap, 13

Blue Bird, 30, 158, 160, 161, 164

Blue Lune Ware, see Lune Ware
Blue Willow, 21, 28, 33-34, 38-42,

175
34-37
Richard, 52

83, 84, 157,

legend

of, 33,

Bon Homme
Bone china, 52,

161, 175, 184

Bonrea pattern, 63, 68, 157, 160
Boraxine, 12, 13
Bown, Louis, 19, 21, 30, 76, 77, 157,

178
Bown, William, 30
92
103

Broel, M., 82, 101, 107, 116,

119

Bron, M., 82, 91

Buffalo (N.Y.), 11, 16, 21, 47, 68, 69,
70, 72, 74, 77, 125, 151, 161,

B. S., 81,

170

Canoe Club,
143,

Port-

Beechland Farms, 75
Beethoven, 170
Hciill Brothers, 73
Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, 69

Chamber

of

126, 127

Commerce,

9, 16,

180

Club, 74, 180

Courier Express, 144

Garment Company, 18
Hunt, 44, 50
Leather Company, 19
Pottery (later Buffalo China), 7, 8,
9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 29,
43, 44, 50, 54, 63, 84, 127, 128,

135,

140,

141,

142,

143,

144,

149, 158, 167, 171, 174

Art Department, 21, 30

Decorating Department, 26

188

plate,

Calumet Club

"Breakfast at the Three Pigeons," 79,

Broel, E., 82,

C. B., 81, 122

C. D., 81, 93
Cafe-au-Lait, 30, 77, 141, 154,
169, 184
Caird, M., 86
Caird, R., 88
Cairo pattern, 162

Calendar

"Breaking Cover," 79, 88, 89, 90, 91

150, 179
Bangor, 158, J 72
"Barberini-Portland Vase," see
land Vase
Barclay Hotel, 152
Bathroom sets, see Toilet sets
Beatty, C, 82, 98
Beck, R. K., 54, 55, 58

Biscuit (bisque) kilns, 23, 24, 25, 184

83, 87,

"At the Three Pigeons," 79, 88

"Athenaeum," 141
Aveneau, Father Claude, 125

100
Baby Bunting Set, 163, 164
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,

Bing and Nathan, 72, 74

80-82

Designing Department, 26
manufacture of, 22-27
trademarks, 29, 31
Public Library, 77
Yacht Club, 126
Bungalow, 158

168,

124

75
Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, 70
Campbell, Floyd, 48
Campbell Kids, 163, 164
Canton Blue Flowers, 44
Capitol building, 64
of Buffalo,

Carter, Silas, 126-27

"Champion-Bromley Crib," 60
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, 142,

143, 147, 148, 149, 180

"Chessie" Cat service, 142, 149
Chicago, Rock Island Railroad, 151,
152, 182
Children's ware, 27, 42, 159, 163,
164, 165
"Christmas Carol, A," 135
Christmas plates, 32, 135, 136-39
Chrysanthemum, 44, 162, 163
Cinderella, 44,

45

Clews, 80, 176

Coin gold, 43, 184

Coin Gold Band, 158
Color Band, 157
Colorido Ware, 29, 30, 77, 141, 168,
169, 170, 173, 184

INDEX

Combe, William, 80
Commemorative items, 27, 46, 63-64,
66-71, 74, 75, 136-39
Commercial Service Clients (list),
179-83
Commercial ware,
145^55, 169

Commodore

30,

124,

140-44,

Hotel, 174, 180

Coryden, Indiana, 67
Coss, Daniel J., 11
Coss, William H., 11
Country Garden, 154

189

103, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,

122, 124, 129, 130, 131, 136-39,

156-58, 159-61, 166, 172, 173,

174, 176, 178
Ditmars, E., 82, 88
Dr. Syntax series, 33, 80, 83, 84, 105,
108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114,
115, 116, 117, 176
"Advertisement for a Wife," 176
"again filled up his glass," 112

"and the Bookseller," 106

"at Liverpool," 106
"Bound to a Tree by Highwaymen,"

Cranford, 79, 83, 94

Creme Oatmeal Soap, 12, 13
Crescent Pottery, 19, 76
Cuspidors, 17, 167

113
"copying the wit of the window,"

"Dancing Ye Minuet," 79, 95

"Dash, The," 79, 92
"Daughter of the Revolution," 119
"Days of the Week plates, 82, 121
"Death, The," 79, 83, 88, 89
Decalcomania, 26, 184
photographic process, 141
Decorating kilns, 24, 184
Decorative ware, 98, 99, 102, 103,

Deer

sets, 53, 54, 58,

112,

118,

129,

130,

119,
131,

Fallowfield

Hunt

list,

81-82

series, 77, 79, 83,

86-93
Indian scenes mug, 82, 123
"Mr. Pickwick Addresses the Club,"

122

Vicar of Wakefield series, 79, 83,

101, 102
"Ye Lion Inn" series, 79, 80, 83,
101, 102, 103-104
series, 79, 88,

93-

102
Delft, J 74,

175

Dempsey, Jack,
Denholm, 77
Devereaux, 77

"Entertained at College," 111

"made free of the cellar," 112
"Making a Discovery," 116
"Misfortune at Tulip Hall," 117
"mistakes a gentleman's house for

an inn," 105
"reading his tour," 107
"returned home," 109
"robbed of his property," 112
"Sell's Grizzle,"

"Setting

Out

116

to the Lake,s,"

114

"Sketching the Lake," 115

115
117
"stopt by highway men," 115
"Taking possession of his living,"
106
"with the dairymaid," 105
Doncaster, Perry, 143, 144
Doulton, 21, 43, 77
Dowman, E., 82, 81, 96, 101
Dresden, 28, 30, 158
Drinking sets, 86, 104, 112, 123, 16768, 173
Drury Lane Theatre, 33
Durrant, Mary, 11

Dutch Jug,

Humidor, 82, 122

special pieces, 82, 121, 122
Sailor

"Ye Olden Days"

114,

"John Alden and Priscilla," 118

"Lost," 82, 119
"Noble Hunting Party," 114
"Penn's Treaty with the Indians,"

118
"Yankee Doodle," 119
Empress, 158
English Ball Clay, 76, 184
English Blue Willow, 28
English Design, 165
Esty, Harold M., Jr., 32
"Evening at Ye Lion Inn," 102

Faerie Queen, 49
Fairview Golf Club, 153, 180
Fairview Grille, 154, 180
Fallowfield Hunt Series, 77, 79, 83,
86-^93,

restaurant, J 51, 181

Dickens, Charles, 135

Dinnerware, 27, 29, 38, 41, 42, 55,
56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64-74,
88, 89, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 102,

44, 51

173

"At the Three Pigeons," 79, 88

"Breakfast at the Three Pigeons,"
79, 83, 87,

92

"Breaking Cover," 79, 88, 89, 90,

91
"Dash, The," 79, 92
"Death, The," 79, 83, 88, 89
"Fallowfield Hunt," 79, 83, 86, 88,

"Star Gazing,"

79-80

decorators, 80-82;

113,

with the land-

bill

"Soliloquising,"

59

Delaney, Anna, 9, 81; see also Stuart,

Mrs. Ralph
Deldare Ware, 8, 9, 28, 46, 47, 7684, 85-104, 121-24, 127
calendar plate, 124
days of the week plates, 82
decorations,

112,

176

lady," 105,

110, 111,
121, 122, 124,
132, 133, 171

"(

111,

105
"disputing his

109,

109,

107,

115, 116, 117

tardea Trio," 1 16

90, 91

"Hunt Supper, The," 79,

"Return, The," 79, 89

83,

86

"Start, The," 79, 88, 91

Fanueil Hall, 66, 71
Fern Rose, 158
Fish sets, 27, 53, 54, 55, 56
"Fisher Village in Holland," 174
Florence Rose, 157
Ford, H., 82, 97, 98
Forget-Me-Not, 157, 159

97,111
57
"Fox Hunt and the Whirl of the
Town," 44, 47
Foster, W., 82, 89, 93, 94,

Fowl

sets,

27, 53, 54, 56,

Fra magazine, 16
Fraternal Order of Eagles, 74
E. B., 81, 95, 96, 98,

103

Eaton, Seymour, 48

Edison Company,

Inc.,

33

Elite Toilet Soap, 13

Elizabeth I, 49
Emerald Deldare, 28, 77, 78, 80, 84,
105-20, 127, 176
"American Beauty vase," 120
Art Nouveau decoration, 80, 107
108, 110, 111, 117, 120
"Daughter of the Revolution," 119
decorations on, 80
Dr. Syntax pieces, 80, 83, 84, 105-

G. H. S., 81, 93, 94, 101

G. R., 81, 99

Game set, 27, 53

"Garden Trio," 116
Gaskell, Mrs., 79
Gates Circle, Buffalo, 70
Gaudv Willow, 34, 42
Genesee Hotel, 153, 183

"George Washington"
148, 149
Geranium, 44, 51

train, 142, 143,

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

190

Gerhardt,

J.,

82, 86, 88, 95, 115, 118,

121
Gerhardt, M., 81, 82, 86, 104, 118,
120, 121
Gernet, Dee Albert, 77
Giesche Porcelain Company, 30
Glaze, 26, 185
kilns,

25

29, 30, 77,

168, 169, 174, 185

127, 129, 130,

131, 132, 133, 134
Harrison, Benjamin, 142
Harrison, M., 95
"Heirlooms," 94
Helmich, Robert, 80

"Her Calf," 50, 54, 56

Hero, 163
79

49, 52,

62-63, 64-66
Holland jug, 44, 50

Home

Furniture and Carpet Co., 72

Hotel Cadillac, 152

50

Hubbard, Elbert, 7, 11, 12, 13,

177
Hubbard, Hannah Frances, 11; see
Larkin, Mrs. John D.
Hubbard, Silas, Dr., 11
Hudson Terminal Buildings, 68
"Hunt Supper," 79, 83, 86

16,
also

153,

M. G., 81, 110

M. G. B., Ill
M. H. F., 81, 91
Mac, F., 82, 88
"Main St.," 72
Majestic Hotel, 152, 183
"Major, Old Hoss," 50
Mandalay, 158, 172
Maple Leaf, 157, 163

Kappler, Anna, 21
Katzmann's Store, 73
Kenmore, 157
Kennel Club, London, 60
Kilns, 23, 24, 25, 26, 185

Harris, Charles, 119,

of Telling Stories,"

area,

103

141,

Junks, 22, 185

Harland, Marion, 83
"Harpers Ferry, W. Va.," 150

Stag, 44,

Lune Ware,

Jugs, 43, 44, 45^i7, 49-52, 185

Hample Equipment Company, 135

Hounds and

"Lost" plate, 82, 119

Louisa Railroad, 142; see also Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
Lucerne, 158

Jack Knife Bridge, 74

James River Company, 142

45
Thomas, 171
Jennings, Rix, 135
Jigger, 23, 24, 184
"John Alden and Priscilla," 118
Jone, G. H., 82, 97
Jones, John Paul, 44, 52
Journal of Commerce, Niagara
83

Manner

Limoges, 28
Liner, 26, 185
Liszt, 170
"Live Wire," 83
Lockport, N.Y., 73

Jefferson,

Gould, Robert E., 30, 32, 135, 170

"Great Controversy," 101
Greenbrier Hotel, 150, 181
Greenburg Glass Company, 18
Gruenewald, Guido, 142
"Gunner, The," 44, 52, 53, 59

"His

Red Men, 63

Jefferson, Joseph,

Gold Band, 157

Gold Lace Border, 157
Gold Line, 158
Goldsmith, 79

Historical items, 27, 44, 46,

International Order of

Japan pattern, 158, 172

Glendale, 30, 158

Gloriana, 44, 49
Glost kilns, 24, 25, 26, 27, 185
Goffart Printers, 79

Hall, P., 82, 89, 102,

Indian Scenes mug, 82, 123

Indian Tree, 158, 172

Marfleet, H. A.,

Mason

Krausen, Frederick, 143, 144

Krug, George, 74

106
Lamare, 27, 156, 157
Lamelle process, 29, 30, 32, 151, 152,
169, 170, 173, 185
"Land of Memory," 178
"Landing of Roger Williams," 44, 46,
76
Lang, A., 82, 92
Lansing, William, 126
L. N.,

Larkin, Charles, 19
Larkin, Harry H., Jr., 18
Larkin, John D., Jr., 19
Larkin, John Durrant, 7, 10, 11, 15,
16, 32, 47, 171,175
Larkin, Levi Henry, 11
Larkin, Mrs. John D., 52, 175; see also

Hubbard, Hannah Frances

Larkin Administration Building, 16,
17, 18
"Larkin Club," 14
Larkin Company, 7, 9, 10, 11-18, 19,

Ideal Toilet Soap, 13

27, 28, 29, 43, 44, 47, 49, 53,

"Implored the Chairman," 79

Improved Order of the Red Men, 63,
68, 69
"In the Pastures," 131
Independence Hall, 65, 73
Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
74

55, 56, 58, 59,

62; 63, 64,

60

Mars, Ed J., 82, 90

Martin, Darwin D., 12, 19
Martin, L. F., 12

78,

83, 85, 128, 140, 156, 158, 159,

160, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166,

167, 168
Combination Boxes, 13, 14
premiums, 13, 14, 19, 53, 78, 167
Lawn, 22, 185

Jug, 44, 52
Masonic order, 74
Mayer, Ernst, 170
Mayer, Joshua, 170
Mayer China Company, 19
Meidel, Joseph, 141
Melon-shaped china pitcher, 44, 52
Message to Garcia, A, 16
Miana, 157
Miessel, E., 82, 117
Millring, L. L., 72
Minerva, 158
"Miss Mattie in the Sedan Chair," 83
Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad, 153
"Mr. Pickwick Addresses the Club,"
122
Modern Woodsmen of America, 69
Modjeska
Cold Cream, 13
Complexion Soap, 13
pattern, 27, 156, 157
Perfume, 13
Toilet Soap, 13

Tooth Powder, 14
Mold, 22, 23, 185
Montclair Hotel, 152

Mount Vernon,

49, 63, 65, 70, 141

Multifleure, 169, 185

"My

Trip Through the Larkin Factory,"

83

N
National Museum of Transport, 142
Natural Wood Design, 169

191

INDEX

Nekolk, J., 82, 97

Bedford, Massachusetts, 44, 46,

New

R. Y.,

63, 66

New
New

York Central Railroad, 154, 182

York City, 16, 28, 68, 69, 143,
151
New York World's Fair (1939), 150,
182
"Newman," 111

Newman,
Niagara

L., 82, 1 03,

112

Falls, 62, 63, 65,

126

Niger, 46

"Noble Hunting Party," 114

Novelty items, 171, 172, 174

Ocean Bath Soap,

Odd

12, 13

Fellows Hall, 70

Old Abbey, 153

Old Friar,' 168
Old Mill, 44, 46

Onondaga Pottery Works, 21

Anna, 67
Orchid Spray, 44, 51
Orioles, F. C., 75
Overglaze ware, 25, 26, 27, 185
Onslatt, Mrs.

132

Ramlin, M., 82, 106, 117

Rea, William J., 19, 21, 50, 76, 77,
157, 171
Reidpath, Robert J., 19

Remington, Frederick, 50, 54, 56

"Return, The," 79, 89
Richmond, Virginia, 63, 67, 142
Richmond and Alleghany Railroad,
142
Riehs, Anna, 143
Riehs, August, 143, 146
Rip Van Winkle, 44, 45
Robb, Mrs. Walter, 47
Robin, H., 82, 106, 115
Robin Hood, 44, 47, 76
"Rocket," 151
Rococo, 165, 185
Roosevelt, Theodore, 63, 64, 68
Roosevelt Bears, 44, 48, 164
Rosebank, 158
Roth, A., 82, 110, 112
Rouge Ware, 29, 30, 77, 141, 151,
154, 155, 168, 169, 173, 186
Rowland & Marcellus, 63
Rowlandson, Thomas, 80
Rowley, S., 110
Royal Doulton, see Doulton

Sned, M., 82, 102

Snediker, M., 82, 95
Souvenir items, see Commemorative
items
Spenser, 49
"Spirit of 76," 119

"Sportsman," 142, 143, 149

Spray Decor Tea Set, 158
Springville, N.Y., 73
Standish, Miles, 47
"Start,

The," 78, 88, 91

Statler,

172

Steiner, H., 82,

Stiller, 82,

104

100

"Street Scenes,"
Streissel, L., 82,

79
88

Stuart, Gilbert, 21, 141

Stuart, Mrs. Ralph, 9, 77, 81; see also

Delaney, Anna
Stuart, Ralph, 9, 21, 54, 59, 60, 61,

76, 77, 80, 105, 114, 118, 119,

121, 123, 126, 127, 129,

131, 133, 143, 144, 155,
170, 174, 178
Stuwesant Hotel, 151, 182

Sweeney Company, 72
Sweet Home Soap, 11,

130,
169,

12, 13

Roy croft, 124

C,

P. A.

152, 182

Palmer, Lita, 81, 82

Pan-American Exposition (1901), 15
Park Country Club, 77, 182
Pell's Restaurant, 154, 182
"Penn's Treaty with the Indians," 118
Pere Marquette Hotel, 153, 182
Philadelphia, 16, 65, 73
Philistine

magazine, 16

Pilgrim pitcher, 44, 47, 76

Pink Rose, 30, 158
Pitchers, 41, 42, 43-44, 45-49, 52, 89,

90, 101, 102, 104, 111, 113, 114,

115, 122, 123, 133, 185

Pluto,

157

Point Abino, 125, 126

Portland, Dutchess of, 170
"Portland, Me., Portland Head Light,"
127, 131
Portland Vase, 32, 171, 172

"Potomac Valley," 150

Potter's wheel, 22, 185
Princess, 157, 163
Priscilla,

47,118

Probert, L. C, 142
Pure White Soap, 12
Pyramids plaque, 127, 129

Roycroft Inn, 151, 182

Rovcrofters, 16

Tennessee Ball Clav, 76, 186

Theatre Royal, 33
'

Saggers, 24, 25, 186

and Lightship, 44, 45

Humidor, 82, 122
Sailors and Lighthouse, 44, 45
St. Mary Magdalen Church, 70
Sample Room, 74
Sauter, 109
Sauter, A., 116
Sauter, O., 82, 90, 96
"Scenes of Village Life in Ye Olden
Days," 88, 93, 94, 98
Sea Cave Restaurant, 169, 182
Serapis, [Se)Rapis, 52
Sailing Ships
Sailor

Semivitreus china (porcelain), 27, 43,

53, 78, 156, 186
Seneca, 157

Serving pieces, 38, 40, 41, 42, 55, 56,

58, 59, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98, 100,
103, 107, 131, 132, 165-66, 167,
171, 173, 176
Sheehan, N., 82, 87

Shenango Porterv, 81
Simpson,

W.

E., 127, 128, 132

186
Smith Ceramic Studios, 143
Slip, 22, 24,

Queen, 157

& Taylor Company, 30

Tea Rose, 157, 163
Tea sets, 21, 29, 42, 90, 93, 94, 97,
105, 106, 132, 134, 160
Taylor, Smith

"Their Manner of Telling

101
"This Amazed Me," 102

Stories,"

Thomas, R., Sons Company, 30

"Thomas Viaduct, 1835," 150
Thomson, Hugh, 79, 94
Tinted pattern, 162
"To Advise Me in a Whisper," 79,
101

"To demand my annual Rent," 102

"To Spare an Old Broken Soldier," 79,
101

162-63
Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of a
Wife, 80, 115
Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of Consolation, 80, 115
Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the

Toilet sets, 21, 29, 95, 128,

Picturesque, 80, 115

"Traveling in Ye Olden Days," 79, 94

Travers, Eileen, 135
Trinitv Church, 69

Triumph (Annual Poppy),

Turkey sets, 169, 170

44, 51

THE BOOK OF BUFFALO POTTERY

192

Washington, George, 21, 28, 44, 49,

Underglaze ware, 25, 26, 27, 186

United Daughters of the Confederacy,
General A. P. Stewart Chapter,
63, 67

Vases, 99, 100, 102, 108, 120, 121,

134, 165, 171, 175, 177
Vassar, 158
Verdi, 170

46

Vicar of Wakefield, 79, 83, 101,102

Vienna, 158, 160
Virginia Central Railroad, 142; see

Chesapeake and Ohio

Rail-

road
Vitrified china, 28, 29, 43, 156,

168, 186

W
W.

F., 81, 98,

126, 141, 142, 144,

147, 148, 170

china set, 21, 28, 141,

144,

147,

148
Washington, Martha, 71
Wedgwood, Josiah, 170
Wedgwood china, 21, 170
"Welcome Me with most Cordial Hospitality," 102

Windmill Point, 126, 127

Windsor, R., 82, 91
"With a cane Superior Air," 102
Women's Christian Temperance Union,
63, 67
Wood, Enoch, 143
Wood, George H., 86, 144, 170, 171
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 16, 17

Wyman,

Richard,

and Co. Limited,

79

Weller, Julius, 11

Western Union Telegraph Company,

11

Vertical Stripe, 44,

also

65, 70, 71,

104

Wade, R., 82, 96

Wagner, 170
Wall, William A., 66

"Waning Day," 131

Washington, D.C., 64, 71

158,

"Whaling City New Bedford, Massachusetts," 44, 46

"Which He Returned with at Curtsey," 101

Whirlers, 24, 186

White and Gold, 162

White House,

62, 64, 71

Wigley, J., 82, 116

"Wild Ducks," 44, 50, 53
Wild Poppy, 157
Wild Rose, 158
Willard, 119
Willard, Frances E., 67
Williams, Betsy, 46
Williams, Roger, 44, 46
Wilton, 109
Wilton, B., 82, 88, 99, 119

"Yankee Doodle," 119

"Ye Lion Inn" series, 79, 80, 83, 101,
102,

103-104

"Ye Olde English Village," 104

Ye Olde Ivory, 29, 30, 77, 141, 146,
149,

150,

153,

154,

155,

168,

169, 186

"Ye Olden Days" series, 79, 88, 93102

"Ye Olden Times," 96, 97
"Ye Town Crier," 79, 96
"Ye Village Gossips," 79, 95, 96
"Ye Village Parson," 79, 99
"Ye Village School Master," 79, 99
"Ye Village Street," 95, 96, 98, 100,
102
"Ye Village Tavern," 79, 83, 98

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