Vase 1883 - 1887

This vase was created by the Eureka Pottery Company, which operated in Trenton, New Jersey, for only four years in the 1880s. The style is known as majolica, an Anglicized term for a kind of tin-glazed earthenware that was especially popular in Renaissance Italy. Majolica ware was a hit at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, with the display of Minton and Company of England generating particular attention. From the 1850s onward, Minton's had been at the center of a revival of majolica production, and their wares inspired many American companies such as Eureka, Griffen, Smith & Hill, and Chesapeake Pottery. Mass production meant it was comparatively cheap to manufacture and widely available for purchase. Given the short life span of the Eureka Pottery Company, art historians must rely on trade publications and advertisements to learn more about its production and to understand its place in the wider cultural landscape of late 19th-century America.