Tamac Pottery was a line of mid-century modern ceramic glazed dinnerware that was manufactured in Perry Oklahoma from 1946 to 1972. The stream-lined biomorphic pottery line included tableware and housewares.
Tamac Pottery was a line of mid-century modern ceramic glazed dinnerware that was manufactured in Perry Oklahoma from 1946 to 1972. The stream-lined biomorphic pottery line included tableware and housewares.
The Tamac pottery factory was located in a quonset hut in Perry, Oklahoma, that had previously been used during World War II by the military. The company was founded by Leonard Tate who grew up in Perry. After the war, he married Majorie Hemke [Tate]. Henry and Betty Macaulay joined the partnership in the Fall of 1946. [1] Marjorie Tate had been formally trained in art (sculpture and design) at Brown University. She later went on to design floor coverings before starting the pottery business with her husband Leonard. In 1952 the Tate's sold the factory business to Earl Bechtold and his wife. Their son, Earl Bechtold took over the business in 1960 who ran it until selling the operation to Joseph and Mary Hladik. Mary and her daughter, Lenita Moore ran the business until its closure in 1972. [2]
The irregularly-shaped glazed earthenware pottery was designed by Marjorie Tate, Leonard Tate, Betty Macaulay and Allen Macaulay. It has been exhibited in several museum exhibitions, including the Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age 1940–1960 show at the Brooklyn Museum [3] and the Hot Cars, High Fashion, Cool Stuff. Designs of the 20th Century exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. Tamac produced pieces in several glaze colors of which avocado green with dark green airbrushed trim is the most common; other colors include gray, raspberry, "butterscotch" (yellow), and the frosty line consisting of three colors: "frosty pine", "frosty fudge, and "frosty pink" with white trim. The biomorphic-shaped dinnerware included dishes, bowls, cup and saucers and serving vessels, as well as vases, candle holders and other accessories, such as decorative "wall pockets". [4] [5] Several department stores in the region carried the Tamac line of tableware. [6]
Tamac pottery is held in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum, [3] the Dallas Museum of Art, [7] the Indianapolis Museum of Art, [8] the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, [9] and other institutions.
Fiesta is a line of ceramic glazed dinnerware manufactured and marketed by the Fiesta Tableware Company of Newell, West Virginia since its introduction in 1936, with a hiatus from 1973 to 1985. Fiesta is noted for its Art Deco styling and its range of often bold, solid colors.
Eva Striker Zeisel was a Hungarian-born American industrial designer known for her work with ceramics, primarily from the period after she immigrated to the United States. Her forms are often abstractions of the natural world and human relationships. Work from throughout her prodigious career is included in important museum collections across the world. Zeisel declared herself a "maker of useful things."
Mid-century modern (MCM) is a design movement in interior, product, graphic design, architecture, and urban development that was popular in the United States and Europe from roughly 1945 to 1969, during the United States's post–World War II period. The term was used descriptively as early as the mid-1950s and was defined as a design movement by Cara Greenberg in her 1984 book Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s. It is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement. The MCM design aesthetic is modern in style and construction, aligned with the Modernist movement of the period. It is typically characterized by clean, simple lines and honest use of materials, and it generally does not include decorative embellishments.
Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices.
Russel Wright was an American industrial designer. His best-selling ceramic dinnerware was credited with encouraging the general public to enjoy creative modern design at table with his many other ranges of furniture, accessories, and textiles. The Russel and Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga in upstate New York records how the "Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle".
Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead was highly influential in both studio and commercial pottery. He worked for the Roseville Pottery, established his own Rhead Pottery (1913–1917), and in 1935 designed the highly successful Fiesta ware for Homer Laughlin China Company.
The Hall China Company was an American ceramics manufacturer located in East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. At the time of its closure, Hall China was one of two potteries under the HLC Inc. brand, the other being Homer Laughlin China. In 2020, it was announced that the Hall China facility would be closed by February 2021 to reduce overhead in the now Fiesta Tableware Company, as the Hall China brand itself had been sold to Steelite International earlier in the year. Hall China is still produced as a food service brand by Steelite, but no longer operates as an independent brand in retail.
The Fiesta Tableware Company is a ceramics manufacturer located in Newell, West Virginia, United States. Established in 1871, it is widely known for its Art Deco glazed dinnerware line, Fiesta.
Bing & Grøndahl was a Danish porcelain manufacturer founded in 1853 by the sculptor Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl and merchant brothers Meyer Hermann Bing and Jacob Herman Bing. The trademark backstamp for Bing & Grøndahl (B&G) porcelains is the three towers derived from the Coat of Arms of Copenhagen. The company's Seagull dinnerware series became known as the "National Service of Denmark" in the 1950s when it was found in one tenth of all Danish households. In 1987 the company merged with its primary competitor, the Royal Porcelain Factory under the name Royal Copenhagen.
J.A. Bauer Pottery is an American pottery that was founded in Paducah, Kentucky in 1895 and operated for most of its life in Los Angeles, California. It closed in 1962.
Heath Ceramics is a B Corp certified American company that designs, manufactures, and retails goods for tabletop and home, and is best known for handcrafted ceramic tableware and architectural tile in distinctive glazes.
Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tableware and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California, US from 1934 to 1962, International Pipe and Ceramics (Interpace) from 1962 to 1979, and Wedgwood from 1979 to 1983. Wedgwood closed the Los Angeles plant, and moved the production of dinnerware to England in 1983. Waterford Glass Group plc purchased Wedgwood in 1986, becoming Waterford Wedgwood. KPS Capital Partners acquired all of the holdings of Waterford Wedgwood in 2009. The Franciscan brand became part of a group of companies known as WWRD, an acronym for "Wedgwood Waterford Royal Doulton." WWRD continues to produce the Franciscan patterns Desert Rose and Apple.
Catalina Pottery is the commonly used name for Catalina Clay Products, a division of the Santa Catalina Island Company, which produced brick, tile, tableware and decorative pottery on Santa Catalina Island, California. Catalina Clay Products was founded in 1927. Gladding, McBean & Co. acquired all of the assets of the company in 1937 and moved all production to its Franciscan dinnerware division in Los Angeles.
Pacific Clay Products, founded 1892, was created by the merger of several Southern California potteries in the US. The company began producing utilitarian pottery in the 1920s, and introduced solid color earthenware dinnerware in 1932. The primary site for the production of ceramic tableware, kitchenware, and art ware was based in the company's Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles plant at 306 West Avenue 26. Pacific Clay ceased production of ceramic dinnerware and art ware in 1942. After 1942, Pacific Clay produced sewer tile and brick. The company ceased production of sewer tile in 1997. The company continues to produce brick products in Lake Elsinore, California. The company has been owned by David H. Murdock since 1973.
Vernon Kilns was an American ceramic company in Vernon, California, US. In July 1931, Faye G. Bennison purchased the former Poxon China pottery renaming the company Vernon Kilns. Poxon China was located at 2300 East 52nd Street. Vernon produced ceramic tableware, art ware, giftware, and figurines. The company closed its doors in 1958.
California pottery includes industrial, commercial, and decorative pottery produced in the Northern California and Southern California regions of the U.S. state of California. Production includes brick, sewer pipe, architectural terra cotta, tile, garden ware, tableware, kitchenware, art ware, figurines, giftware, and ceramics for industrial use. Ceramics include terra cotta, earthenware, porcelain, and stoneware products.
Brayton Laguna Pottery produced ceramics (pottery) in Laguna Beach, California from 1927 to 1968.
Don Schreckengost was an American industrial ceramic designer who was active from the 1930s through the 1990s. He is considered to be the first American industrial ceramic designer.
Daniel Gale Turnbull Jr., was an American ceramicist, painter, etcher, and art director active from the 1920s until the 1950s. He is best known for his work as art director and designer at Vernon Kilns beginning in 1936.
Mary K. Grant, was an American industrial designer. Grant is known for her ceramic designs for Franciscan Ceramics manufactured by Gladding, McBean & Co. Grant designed several fine china and earthenware shapes for Gladding, McBean. Grant designed the American Franciscan dinnerware shapes for Desert Rose, Apple, and Ivy. Grant's Franciscan fine china shape Encanto was chosen by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for good design in 1951.