Museum of Ceramics (East Liverpool, Ohio)

East Liverpool Post Office
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Front of the museum
Location:	5th and Broadway Sts., East Liverpool, Ohio
Coordinates:	40°37′6″N 80°34′38″W / 40.61833°N 80.57722°W / 40.61833; -80.57722Coordinates: 40°37′6″N 80°34′38″W / 40.61833°N 80.57722°W / 40.61833; -80.57722
Built:	1908
Architect:	James Knox Taylor
Architectural style:	Beaux Arts
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	76001384[1]
Added to NRHP:	November 21, 1976

The Museum of Ceramics, formerly or also known as East Liverpool Post Office, is a ceramics museum that houses an extensive collection of ceramic wares produced in and around East Liverpool, Ohio, USA. The museum is operated by a Museum of Ceramics Foundation and by the Ohio Historical Society in a city long known as "America's Crockery City" and "The Pottery Capitol of the Nation."^[2]

Description

The Museum of Ceramics is dedicated to the preservation of the rich pottery history of the East Liverpool area. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the East Liverpool area produced over 50% of the nation's ceramic output.^[2] Over 200 pottery factories have operated in and around East Liverpool, starting in the 1840s when the English potter James Bennett established the area's first commercial pottery.^[3] The main lobby displays a painting by Roland Schweinsburg, circa 1938, depicting the Bennett pottery.^[4] James Bennett was the elder brother of Edwin Bennett of Baltimore.

The museum contains the largest public display of Lotus Ware, an award-winning fine porcelain ware produced only for a short period in the 1890s by the Knowles, Taylor, Knowles pottery of East Liverpool.^[5] Also on display are collections of early Rockingham Pottery, ironstone, whiteware, yellow ware, and Victorian majolica. Other highlights are Homer Laughlin's Fiesta dinnerware, Hall China's Donut teapot, and William Bloor's 1860s Parian Ware, along with Craven Art Pottery vases. Related displays on East Liverpool's social, political and economic history show the impact of the industry on the community and the nation.^[6]

Building

The museum occupies the former city post office, a Beaux-Arts structure designed by architect James Knox Taylor and built in 1909.^[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "About the Museum". Museum of Ceramics, Ohio, USA. http://www.themuseumofceramics.org/about.html. 
3. ^ Vivian A. Wagner,"Pottery: The Pride of East Liverpool, Ohio". http://www.americanprofile.com/spotlights/article/391.html. 
4. ^ WPA/ New Deal Art in East Liverpool "New Deal/ WPA Art In East Liverpool, Ohio". http://www.wpamurals.com/eastlive.htm WPA/ New Deal Art in East Liverpool. 
5. ^ Catherine S. Vodrey,"Lotus Ware". http://www.themuseumofceramics.org/lotus.html. 
6. ^ "The Museum of Ceramics". Ohio History Society, USA. http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/ne04/index.shtml. 

External links

• Museum of Ceramics website