Vase (no. 156)

Clifton Art Pottery

1906

9 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches

Porcelaneous stoneware

2020.4.2

Gift of Theodore M. Lytwyn

Impressed on base “156” (2x); incised “Clifton / 1905”; incised decorator mark?

Clifton Art Pottery’s initial success was largely due to the positive reception of their “crystal patina” line which was introduced in 1906. In keeping with the Arts and Crafts aesthetic, crystal patina was a semi-matte, crystalline glaze, similar in texture—though more muted in color—to that of the Gates Potteries’ Teco line. As a reviewer in the Buffalo Express noted in 1909, “The Crystal Patina ware… is a beautiful achievement. It was discovered quite by accident, while the potters were trying to effect something different—which, indeed, is often the beginning of the world’s rarest gems in pottery and porcelain.” While many of the productions in this line mirror the examples in Craftsman Farms’ collection—a greenish cast with a rutile brown overlay—a rare example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art demonstrates the depth of color the firm was sometimes able to achieve, as well as the goldstone crystalline effect.