On the Road to Rookwood: Women’s Art and Culture in Cincinnati, 1870–1890

On the Road to Rookwood: Women' s Art and Culture in Cincinnati, 18701890 Nancy E. Owen Introduction Ri)( ikwc), 1, 1 Pc)ttely (, 1 Ci11cii'tiiati 1 1880-1 9671 was the largest, 1(, nges, lasting and arguably nicist 1111p)12: 1111 of moi·c lh,in 1 50 art pottery oper,itiC) 11K in the United States during the late nineteenth : incl carly twentieth centuries. I'lic American Art Plock of Clidurillicc, telling the remnining feinale worke]· s, there were simply not ent,ugh women with the proper artistic ability and sufficient energy ic) come day after day and do a day's wc,rk."- [ Despite Taylor's efforts at gender segregation, during the golden age 01 the Pottery LIS, 83-Ii, I SL women decorators usually outnumbered men. Winter 200 1 Taylor niay have felt 90111e personal aiitip.ithy to women as well as to his subordinate role, for in 1887 he wrote, " while she remains the propi·ictor of Rookwood, the writer, who is an adult male conducts the business."' Moreover, when invited to display ware in the Women's Industrial Section of tile I888 Glasgow International Exhibition Taylor responded, On looking int() the matter clcisely we find that practically all the high class work we now have on h: ind is done by men and ci, uld not well be classified in the department of women's work. When asked about participatic,n in a local industrial fair Taylor again replied that " sc, large a part of our higher class woik is done by men th: t we do not think we could make a proper exhibit in the woman's department."" On another occasion lie tried to hedge his bets remarking that " most of our work i, s done by men, but i) f course the Pottery as an institutioii is 'woman' s work. 2 In a letter to a Chicago patron he wrt} te, " You please us greatly in calling Rookwood Pottery ' virile: We do our best to get that quality int[) it at least. Indeed by 1 904, the role of women at Rcx, kwt,od was being discouIited alt(, gethei·.Taylcir peevishly wrote tc) his friend and fellow art p( ittery expert, Charles Fergus Binits, that " T]le Pottely lias bcci,Written : lbout to a rather tiresonic dcgrcc fit,m the 'woman's standpoint' and... you cari itiiagiric h(} w this h,is been rather written to death.... Of course you know Rookwood so well that you appreciate how its chaiactcristie develcipment heis been the w() rk (, 1 the other sex to at least a controlling extent. The Cult of Domesticity rhe late Vict{) rian " cult of domesticity"was itioted in traditic, nalist notions of separate spheres for middle-and upperclass men : ind women. This powcrtu ] idec)1 rthe accc)ninicidation ot Adies, 111(, stly the wive: saiid d., ughterH (11 . id ti) 11(ME ikWrk in Pottery, carving in clay, and in such other directicins as may suggest themselves as practicable. tis likely th:it Maria Nichols was also asked ti, loin, but her invitation soinelitiw became mislaid. Nicht,] s interpreted the undelivered invitation as a slight and hio Valley Hist tlic public sphere was acceptable because she did R)its ; in Am,itcur with 111e financial backing and management skills of me,1. There are several possible expl: inations as tc) why Nichtils founded the Pottery when she did, imong them the long dist:ince she hail to travel Ir(im Wintel· 200 1 47 4m Figure 5: Maria Longworth Nichols, ca. 1880 ( From CHS Photograph Collection) her h(, me to D: 111: 15 11( ittery and her es, trangement ii·() 111 her htish., Iicl. litileed t]Ic 1(, linclilig c)! 12(, I >kwood, which pr[, pulled Nichc,] s inic) the public sphere, was closely linked tc) her own domestic situation. Acct,irling tc) Mary Louise McLaughlin, Ic,seph Lcingwi,rth agreed 10 finance his ditughter's pi,ttery endeavcir in order tc) diss.: tile Iici from seeking a div{) 1ce . ' Ancither Ilic)tivating lact(, r might have been hel' hutration with the h. ii·d lite of the c(}[ llinercial kilns at Dallas Pi}ttery.-' She wr(, te that...