Bau wow
In 1910, J.A. Bauer picked up stakes in Kentucky to move West. He understood that there was a thriving pottery scene in Los Angeles, fueled by skilled workers and an artistic sensibility that rejected the excessive decoration of the Victorian period (this break from tradition was generally referred to the Arts & Crafts movement.)Once there, he left the redware pieces with which he had made his fortune behind, moving instead to simple, molded and handthrown pieces for the table, artistic vases and bowls, generally in a green glaze.
It was after J.A. Bauer died though that the truly collectable Bauer pieces were created. Louis Ipsen created a "ruffled" design as well as "ringware" (where the decoration was a pattern of concentric circles). He introduced new, brightly colored glazes, orange, yellow, shades of blue inspired by the colors of Southern California itself. These sold well even during the Depression (In fact, the most sought after pieces were made in the 1930s and 40s.) and came to be widely imitated, eventually inspring Fiestaware.
Recently, a ceramic studio called Bauer 2000 opened, dedicated to using the old Bauer molds to create their pottery in the same bright colors at reasonable prices.
posted by kuaptic. @ 3:53 PM
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