Pink Saturday --- Hull Art Vases

Welcome everyone to this week's edition of Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. It has been a long time since I have participated in this tribute to all things pink. My absence has not been a lack of subject matter. I have lots of pink stored away in my archives. Once you get hooked on something like Pink Saturday you see pink everywhere you go. While pink is not my favorite color I do have a few pink treasures and I have chosen to feature a group of them today.

I suppose it could be said that more than one of something makes a collection. So my photo today is of my little collection of Hull Art Vases. This collection kind of happened over the years. It started with the cornucopia vase in the middle of this shot which was a wedding present, back in 1966.

If you placed an order with the casting office of a movie studio, for someone to play the part of a near retirement mid-century spinster schoolteacher; someone impeccable, god-fearing, strong willed, demanding and in complete control of a her life and surroundings; then Elvira Rickmer would have been the person to fill that position. Miss Rickmer was my high school bookkeeping and typing teacher. She was also the person who gave me the Magnolia patterned Hull Art vase.

I never knew anyone that liked Miss Rickmer but somehow she became one of the most important women in my life . She was also to become a moving force within my family circle and someone I'm indebted to still today.

Through research I learned this vase was only made during 1946 and 1947. That makes it the same age as I am. Combine that with my love of the person who presented it to me and you have something I consider priceless.

Now here is a little history lesson on Hull Art.

A. E. Hull Pottery was founded in 1905 in Crooksville, Ohio, initially producing stoneware. By 1907, Hull Pottery had already expanded by adding a second plant and had grown to employ over 200 workers. By 1920, Hull was producing a wide variety of quality stoneware, planters, and art pottery, incorporating new airbrushed and blended glaze techniques. They also produced items for the bathroom and kitchen which usually had a white semi-porcelain body. After the stock market crash in 1929, much of the production shifted to tiles although other items continued to be produced as well. In the 1930s, Hull capitalized in the growing interest in art pottery and introduced several lines of matte finish, pastel, and floral items in the shape of vases, planters, ewers, and bowls, most in varying sizes. Their most successful items were the Little Red Riding Hood cookie jars which were patented in 1943 and began an entire new production line of figural kitchen and novelty items which continued well into the 1950s. Although best known for their pastel matte glazed ware, some of the lines were high gloss. Rosella, glossy coral on a pink clay body, was produced for a short time only; and Magnolia, although offered in a matte glaze, was produced in gloss as well. The plant was destroyed in 1950 by a flood which resulted in a devastating fire when the floodwater caused the kilns to explode. The company rebuilt and equipped their new factory with the most modern machinery. However, it was soon apparent that the matt glaze could not be duplicated through the more modern processes, and soon attention was concentrated on high-gloss artware lines such as Parchment, Pine and Ebb Tide. Figural planters and novelties, piggy banks, and dinnerware were produced in abundance in the late 1950s and 1960s. By the mid 1970s, dinnerware and florist ware were the mainstay of their business. The firm ceased production in 1985.


To join in the fun or just visit the pink post of others visit Beverly and her friends at Pink Saturday.