Van Briggle
Active 1901-present

Ceramic company founded by Artus Van Briggle. Initially part of Rookwood, he received a three-year stipend to study in Paris and later established Van Briggle Pottery in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Van Briggle was committed to producing work that was affordable as well as groundbreaking. His pieces were produced in molds that allowed for relatively easy duplication. This goal of making first-class designs readily available places Van Briggle in the tradition of the American Arts and Crafts movement.

He incorporated art-nouveau designs in his work, giving it an international look, which he combined with a distinctive Southwestern palette. More importantly, he rediscovered the Chinese matte, or "dead" glaze, which had been lost for some 400 years. Van Briggle also made tile from 1904-1920.

Although it has been in business nearly continually since 1901, there were several short closures during the Great Depression and near the end of World War II. A 1919 fire and a 1935 flood destroyed many of the company's records. As a result, a numerical list of Van Briggle designs contains many gaps. Compounding the problem of sketchy records is the sheer quantity of work produced -- thousands, even tens of thousands, of pieces a year.