The following is an excerpted version of the text of "The Van Briggle Story"
by Dorothy McGraw Bogue, copyright 1976.
Nearly every establishment or institution is the lengthened shadow of a person. Colorado is overflowing with lengthened shadows of great mountains and great men and women. Of such was Artus Van Briggle who arrived in Colorado Springs shortly before the turn of the 20 th century. Through the genius of his mind and hands, his contribution to Art has endured through the years.
Born March 21, 1869 in Felicity Ohio , Artus Van Briggle was of Flemish descent whose first known ancestry goes back to 1585 A.D. to a region between present day Belgium and Holland . The 16 th Century Artist-Master in the Flemish School of Painting, Pieter Bruegel was the first in the long line of artists from which Artus Van Briggle descended - the family name became Anglicized on taking up residence in America .
From infancy Artus gave promise of a career in art, which was cultivated and encouraged so far as circumstances would permit. In school Artus was not an enthusiastic pupil study-wise; he tended to exercise his talent for drawing pictures on all his schoolwork. Autograph albums with descriptive illustrations were poplar at this time, and Artus would draw pencil illustrations by each verse, rather than sign his name. Other items that received his drawings or paintings were small boards, scrap silk, and pieces of metal . in fact anything that would support his drawings.
In 1886 Artus left his home in Felicity for the river port of Chilo to take the steamboat to Cincinnati to continue his interests in art. His first job was at the Arnold Fairyland Doll Store in downtown Cincinnati . With the money he earned he began to study as an apprentice under Karl Langenbeck at the newly established Avon Pottery. This was a contemporary of the famous Rookwood Pottery.
Artus became a pupil and regular employee at Rookwood in 1887 while continuing to learn painting, mold making, modelling clay, and working in his home studio sketching and painting the scenes about his environment. His exceptional talent came to the attention of the founder of Rookwood Pottery, Mrs. Storer. She became his patroness, and through his application and efforts and her great favor and encouragement, Artus took high rank in 1889 among Rookwood's staff of decorative artists. There was little doubt that Artus Van Briggle was one of the most promising young decorators at the Rookwood pottery during the 1890's, attested to by the fact that they made arrangements for him to sail for Europe in July 1893 to be gone for two years, possibly three years, a period longer than that afforded any of the other decorators sent abroad for that purpose during the 1890's.
In Paris Artus was to study in the Julian Art School for the first year prior to his entry into the famous Academy known throughout civilization as the Beaux Arts. All his expenses were to be borne by his benefactress and the Rookwood Pottery which were practically one and the same.
Prior to his departure for Paris , he returned to Feliciy , Ohio where he was feted by his friends in honor of his new opportunities abroad. His success did not turn his head, and he maintained a modest and manly manner. The slender, auburn-haired, freckled-faced youth bid goodbye to his family and hopefully left, little realizing that this adventure would bring him to eventual world fame.
While pursuing these studies, his spare time was utilized by visiting the famous Louvre, established as a museum about 1200, and the Sevres Porcelain Factory which was founded in 1756. It was here that his interest in 14 th Century Chinese Ming Dynasty Art Pottery and the matte glazes of it, used from 960 to 1500, was stimulated. The substance and techniques used to create the velvety softness was unknown in the western world at that time. The Chinese claimed it was a .lost art., probably to conceal the formulas and techniques, but in any event Artus determined to re-discover the methods by his own efforts.
In the summer of 1894 he went to Italy to take further instruction in art from the masters there. While in Venice Artus painted scenes of the city environs, and also the bay. Returning to Paris he made short trips to the French countryside, to capture the pastoral beauty of the rural scenery, including the chateaux, cathedrals, gardens, and coastal scenes, the deciduous trees with their early fall colors, and the hedgerows. Among the American students in Paris , Artus met Miss Anne Lawrence Gregory, who was born in Plattsburgh , New York July 11, 1868 of English ancestry, and who had come to Paris to complete her education in art. Anne was accompanied to Paris by her mother Martha Gregory. Since Anne and Artus were especially gifted artists they were congenial companions and saw much of each other, sharing their common interest in art. In 1895 they became engaged.
Their studies completed, the summer of 1896 found them returning to America . Anne and her mother returned to Pennsylvania; Artus returned to Cincinnati where he resumed his work as the outstanding decorator at the Rookwood Pottery. As a result of his studies in Europe , his horizons had been enlarged and he was full of ideas in regard to the artistic development of a new type of pottery classified as Art Nouveau. This was a new departure in art pottery making, employing only solid glazes and with a wider range of colors than used in any production in existence at the time. There were tints of green, orange, purple and azure blue with low relief work as a special feature on the pottery. Artus' time was fully occupied, and his strength was taxed to the limit. His decorating at Rookwood, painting of portraits, and executing charcoals in his home studio, where he also continued his experimentation with clays in order to perfect he glaze, left little time for relaxation. Mrs. Storer provided a small gas-fired kiln for his home studio so that Artus could experiment there independent of the Rookwood Pottery.
By the fall of 1898 he had succeeded in developing a very satisfactory dull glaze which he spread on a design especially modeled for Mrs. Storer. This was a female figure blended into and forming the decoration for the vase. This is presumed to be the only piece Artus modeled at Rookwood, and it is thought that a few copies were made on which his new luminous blue and Persian rose glaze had been applied. The sealed formula for the glaze he bequeathed to the Rookwood Pottery, with the understanding that it was not to be opened except in the case of his death. Artus believed that he had discovered the secret formula the Chinese had use centuries before, and which was passed by them from family to family, generation to generation. Their secret formula was carefully preserved and considered a lost art at the time.
It was a great disappointment to the Rookwood management that Artus Van Briggle's health forced him to leave Cincinnati for another climate where high, dry air might clear his chronic lung congestion. He was advised by a friend he had known in Paris (who had contracted tuberculosis) and who was living in Colorado Springs, to come out and try the high, dry air and climate of Colorado. The advice of his friend seemed credible. Artus Van Briggle arrived by train on a bright, sunny day in March of 1899. His luggage consisted of a few clothes, a small turning wheel, some molds and vases plus his first piece of art pottery with the glaze he had perfected in Cincinnati . By means of friends he stayed at the Sutton home in Colorado Springs until May, when he went to Chico Basin Ranch located approximately thirty-five miles to the Southeast of Colorado Springs.
His doctor prescribed some leisurely walks which gave him the opportunity to scan the area for beds of kaolin, feldspar and deposits of clay which could be used in his experiments which he recovered sufficiently to do so. He began to improve from rest, high altitude with pure air, and exercise, and his indomitable ambition to get back to his experiments served a useful purpose. It was at Chico Basin Ranch that he cast his first pieces using ordinary gray ranch clay, mixed with sand.
By early fall 1899 Artus returned to Colorado Springs and took up residence. Soon he had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Professor William H. Strieby, veteran scientist of Colorado College , who gave him some sound practical advice gained as head of the department of Chemistry and Metallurgy. Dr. Strieby was much interested in Artus Van Briggle's proposed venture to perfect a glaze for his pottery using Colorado clay, and he graciously offered him a corner of his laboratory. Artus now renewed his efforts to perfect his Rookwood developed glaze, firing his test pieces in the assayers kiln in Dr. Strieby's laboratory.
Artus Van Briggle's physical condition could not withstand the pace at which he was driving himself, and he was required to spend the summer of 1900 at the Chico Basin Ranch again, but while relaxing there, he could not resist the ambition to model a number of designs of vases and bowls, using his previously made crude potter's wheel.
By fall he was able to return to a small cottage in the 600 block of North Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs , which was quickly converted into a laboratory and workshop. He continued his experiments that fall and winter with Colorado clays in various combinations with glazes of varied components and by spring of 1901 he believed that he had succeeded in perfecting his rich matte glaze, the object of his search since his student days in Paris .
On August 10, 1901 , Artus invited some close friends to visit his studio to impress their initials in some newly modeled pieces he had made. One of the guests that day was Charles Craig (1846-1931) famous painter of western landscape scenes. After arranging a small exhibit of his earlier paintings and a special selection of his newly turned pottery pieces, Artus again returned to Chico Basin Ranch for more rest.
Artus had previously sent some of his perfected pieces to his patroness Mrs. Storer, who was in Madrid , Spain with her Ambassador husband. When the samples arrived in Madrid , Mrs. Storer was so impressed that she consulted some of Europe 's best judges of art who pronounced them a .supreme discovery in modern ceramics.. Mrs. Storer wired Van Briggle a single word message, .Satisfactory., and returned to the United States and to Colorado Springs to confer with Artus and to make it possible for him to build a modest pottery in the back yard of his cottage, providing a portion of the necessary funds.
For the first few months Van Briggle worked alone in his diminutive pottery, except for the help of a thrower named Harry Bangs, whom he had known at Rookwood, and a young local boy apprentice who ran errands for both. Artus, however, was the sole master in every department of the operation. In time for the pre-Christmas market in 1901 approximately 300 pieces were satisfactorily fired, and this was the first Van Briggle pottery placed on the commercial market. It received splendid reception throughout Europe and the United States with favorable articles appearing in the better magazines during the years 1902 and 1903. The pottery sold as rapidly as it was finished, in the quality stores in many large cities in America , and the metropolitan newspapers were devoting columns of space telling of the fine quality and exceptional beauty of design, the elegant coloring and marble-like glazes.
Because of the beauty of this new Art Pottery, and the general acceptance throughout the United States and Europe it appeared that greatly expanded facilities were justified. Consequently, Asaheal Sutton, cashier of the first National Bank, and with whom Artus Van Briggle had lived for some months, and Henry Russel Wray, head of the Chamber of Commerce, formed a stock company in March 1902. With the availability of increased capital, the building was extended, and a new ten foot round, upright kiln was built.
Everything seemed full of hope and promise for the young artist-potter, so much so that Artus and Anne Gregory announced their wedding plans. Anne had come in the summer of 1900 and soon after became Supervisor of Art in the Colorado Springs High School . It was on Thursday, June 12, 1902 when they invited a few of their friends together, and went to a spot on the Mesa of Cheyenne Mountain known as Helen Hunt Jackson's .My Garden.. They stood in the shadow of a tree in a beautiful and secluded spot amid roses and penstemon with bridal music provided by the robins and meadowlarks.
Anne had won many laurels while Art Supervisor in the Colorado Springs High School , and Artus had already become famous for his discoveries in his new Art Pottery. They were a perfect team to work together in promoting the works of the pottery. Together they designed a trademark that was to become known and to endure through the decades to come. They adopted the initials of their first names .AA. back to back , placed in a geometric square. Anne temporarily gave up her painting to assist Artus in the modeling and finishing of the pottery he designed and created. Artus fully realized the seriousness of his illness (tuberculosis) as time went on and he lost no time in revealing to his capable and understanding wife, the secrets of his valued formula for the velvety soft matte glaze he had so recently perfected.
Artus' health did not improve in the same manner that the work of the pottery progressed, and he found it desirable to spend a few months of the winter of 1902-1903 in Arizona hopeful that, that state's dryer climate would prove beneficial. Upon his return in the early spring of 1903, after traveling by rail both directions, he began to think of his first finished pieces of pottery with the matte glaze, that had been displayed in Paris along with some Rookwood pieces in 1899 and had brought him praise and encouragement. Since that time, he had perfected his Colorado clay glazes and they had gained enthusiastic receptions wherever shown; he felt encouraged to send from his studio a 24-piece exhibit to the Paris Salon in 1903. This was the most exclusive artists salon in the world. To be accepted by the jury, the ware was required to meet the very highest standard of art possible; it need possess extraordinary beauty and worth. The percentage of exhibits rejected not only from Europe , but from the United States was always very large. Van Briggle's was one of the very few exhibits accepted from the hundreds proffered from every civilized country. The acceptance of the Colorado exhibit meant that the Art Pottery was on the level with the best that was being shown in that great industry at that time. The judges awarded Van Briggle two gold, one silver, and twelve bronze medals on his exhibit.
The Paris exhibit was returned to Colorado Springs in late March 1904. It was immediately entered at the Louisiana Purchase Centennial exposition in St. Louis , Missouri with additional pieces Van Briggle had made during its absence in Paris . At St. Louis , the display received high praise for the exceptionally rare designs and unusually soft satiny dull matte glaze finish. The superior jury granted two gold medals, - one for achievement in art, the other for excellence in an industry . plus one silver and two bronze medals; failing only the first prize because it was classified as a .first time exhibit.. There was no doubt in Artus van Briggle's mind that his pottery was now world famous. He had given back to the world the lost luminous blue of the Ming Dynasty era... his product was all he had hoped for, and in current expression, .he had it made..
His health had not improved but in March they returned from Arizona to their home, and on the night of July 4, 1904, he slipped quietly away, having given the world a product that would make his name live on in perpetuity. It was his wife Anne that took his death mask prior to the simple services held at the home on July 7 at ten in the morning; floral tributes almost completely hid the casket. He was tenderly laid to rest in Evergreen cemetery, his Art Pottery exhibit in St. Louis was draped in mourning, and the news of his death shocked artists around the world.
Artus Van Briggle had left a brave and capable wife to carry on the great works he had established. The Art Pottery was shown at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland , Oregon in June 1905, in the first important exhibit following Van Briggle's death. Here it received a gold medal, the highest award given. Anne Van Briggle pressed onward and in 1906-07 another exhibit was entered at the Boston Arts and Crafts Societies Tenth Anniversary, with some of Van Briggle's pieces plus some of Anne's own work. Here again this outstanding Art Pottery received the highest award given, and Anne Van Briggle received the Degree of Master, from this most critical organization in the United States. If Artus could have known that his works of art had received the most awards ever given for such an achievement it would have been more than his most hopeful expectations.
As time passed Anne's thoughts turned to erecting a building worthy of Artus Van Briggle's high reputation and esteem. A piece of land near Monument Valley Park was provided by an ardent admirer of both Anne and Artus Van Briggle, General William J. Palmer (founder of Colorado Springs ). Construction was begun on the new plant in the summer of 1907, employing an Old World design, often likened to an old Dutch farmhouse; full operations began at the Memorial Pottery plant in 1908.
Business was on the upgrade and stories of the successful Pottery were appearing with some regularity in the current magazines published in the interest of subjects indicated by their names: Glass and Pottery World, and the Clay Worker, both magazines of considerable circulation and influence in their respective spheres.
Anne Van Briggle had come to know and counsel with Etienne A. Ritter, a mining engineer who had settled in Colorado Springs from his native Switzerland . They had been in company with each other for more than a year, and both were active in Colorado Springs society. Their engagement was announced in the spring of 1908 . their wedding followed a few months later in July.
During the years 1910 to 1920 the name was adopted as The Van Briggle Pottery and Tile Company; then under new management the enterprise was changed to The Van Briggle Art Pottery. Anne Ritter continued in her capacity as Art Director of the Memorial Pottery operations, creating new designs in clay and painting still-life subjects on her palette until November, 1923 when they moved to Denver and established their residence. Many of her paintings and pottery pieces were displayed at exhibits in Denver , Chicago and San Francisco , until the time of her death November 15, 1929 .
Soon after the death of Anne Van Briggle Ritter, the pottery changed hands again. Since that time the Van Briggle Pottery has weathered the inevitable ebb and flow of time and fortune and expanded facilities to meet an ever increasing public acceptance of the Art Pottery. In 1955 the abandoned Midland Terminal Railroad roundhouse (built in 1887-1888) in Colorado Springs was purchased by the Pottery, extensively remodeled and became an auxiliary to the Memorial Building plant. In 1968 the Memorial Building was sold to The Colorado College and all pottery operations were consolidated into the Midland Roundhouse facility. Through the years original designs by Artus and Anne Van Briggle have consistently been produced by the pottery and are still among the most popular items currently available.
What can you say about a man that left his imprint in Colorado with only five years of effort . effort while in the last stages of a terminal illness? Coming to Colorado in 1899 and while ill, making a contribution in his chosen field that first merited national, and then International recognition and that has endured; Artus Van Briggle was truly a genius. Touch a piece of his craftsmanship, revel in the beautiful colors, enjoy the velvety texture and you will possess some of the genius of Artus Van Briggle.
As an afterthought, it should be mentioned that his great achievements never turned his head, his heart was in the pride of his work, while held in high esteem by his co-workers and peers, he maintained a balanced modesty, befitting the inscription on his grave marker:
Whosever loveth the labor of his work, the Gods have called.,
ARTUS VAN BRIGGLE, 1869 - Potter - 1904.
