Rookwood art pottery is treasured for its exotic designs and fine details. Yet, the real secret to its high value—sometimes in the thousands, like the notable Van Briggle vase sold for $187,500 —is the artist’s mark.
These unique signs and monograms on Rookwood pottery identify the work of individual artists. Some pieces by the most renowned artisans are even showcased in museums.
This guide will introduce you to over 100 artists and their unique marks, which shaped Rookwood’s fortune. It’ll also help you understand what makes each piece so special.
Introduction to Rookwood Pottery Artists
After its inception in 1880, the Rookwood Pottery Company started hiring local and international artists to design its pottery. The first artist to join Rookwood was Albert Robert Valentien (1881 – 1905), who created Rookwood’s wildflower, fish, and bird shapes.
In 1887, Japanese artist Kataro Shirayamadani introduced colored glass mosaic pottery at Rookwood. Then, in 1896, Edward Hurley, the Vellum glaze expert, created the watercolor and landscape pottery lines.
Rookwood later worked with artists like Louise Abel, Irene Bishop, Lorinda Epply, and Flora King in the 1900s. These artists introduced intricate floral and geometrical patterns and vibrant glazes like Ombroso and Scenic Vellum.
Altogether, Rookwood Pottery worked with over 136 known artists during its service from 1880 to 1967. Usually, these artists sign their pieces near the RP mark, but you might also find incised or painted initials on the internal walls.
10 Most Popular Rookwood Pottery Artists & Their Signs
Below are the ten most famous Rookwood artists, with their marks and designs, whose signed pottery has sold for sky-high prices.
1. Albert Robert Valentien (1881 – 1905)
Albert Valentien was Rookwood’s first chief decorator from 1881 to 1905. He experimented with Japanese-style swallows, clouds & bamboo motifs with underglaze Rookwood Pottery.
In 1900, Albert even received a gold medal for his iconic Rookwood pottery display at the Paris Exhibition. Albert left Rookwood in 1905 and settled in San Diego, where he ran his short-term pottery business from 1910 to 1913.
- Auction Records: One of Albert Valentien’s rare California Poppy Rookwood Vase fetched $75,600 at Rago Art Auctions.
- Popular Shapes by Albert Valentien: Wildflower, Fish & Bird
2. Harriet Elizabeth Wilcox (1886 – 1907)
Harriet Wilcox was a top Cincinnati Art Academy student and became Rookwood Pottery’s chief decorator in 1886. She introduced the red, black opal, and matt glaze, as well as her signature flower cluster and mythical vase paintings.
3. Kataro Shirayamadani (1887 – 1948)
Japanese porcelain painter Kataro Shirayamadani joined Rookwood in 1865. He mimicked Tiffany’s mosaic glass patterns onto matte glaze landscape, bird, and floral designs. Later, in 1900, Kataro switched to underglaze paintings with fused clay pigments and stippling designs.
Today, most of Kataro Shirayamadani’s ceramics are displayed at various museums like the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and others.
- Auction Records: A Carved Acorn Lampshade with colored-glass floral decoration by Kataro Shirayamadani sold for $25,000 at Toomey & Co. Auctions.
- Collectible Shapes & Patterns: Cherry Blossom, Morning Glory, Wildflower, Dogwood
4. Amelia Browne Sprague (1887 – 1902)
Local landscape and geography painter Amelia Sprague joined Rookwood in 1887. She designed beautiful floral, vine, and fruit-themed pottery with silver overlays or rims. Sprague also explored the thicker under-slip pottery instead of the common glazed one.
- Auction Price: Amelia’s aerial blue landscape vase was auctioned for over $6,000 at the Cincinnati Art Galleries.
5. Artus Van Briggle (1890 – 1900)
Artus Van Briggle revamped Rookwood’s Goldware line with a slip-textured glaze on green, yellow, and brown designs in the 1890s. But, in 1898, Artus moved to the on-trend Art Nouveau pottery with elongated silhouette shapes.
- Highest Auction: A Van Briggle prototype vase was sold for $187,500 at the Rago Arts and Auction Center’s 20th Century Decorative Arts and Design Auction series.
6. Constance Amelia Baker (1892 – 1904)
Constance Amelia Baker joined Rookwood as a photographer in 1892. She developed the realistic ‘Native-American’ line by casting her clicks under the Iris and Vellum glaze.
- Auction Price: An Amelia Baker’s rare Native American Whiskey Jug won a high price of around $5,000 at Toomey & Co. Auctions.
7. Edward Timothy Hurley (1896 – 1948)
A top landscape painter, Edward Hurley is known for his textured and bubbly Vellum glazes at Rookwood. Artist Edward also designed pastel-tinted waterscape & landscape vases, but they had blurred, plaque paintings with tall & minimal shapes.
- Highest Auction: A marine-style sea-green glazed vase, designed by E.T Hurley, recently fetched over $5,000 at Bonhams Skinner Auction.
8. Charles Carl Schmidt (1896 – 1927)
German artist Charles Schmidt joined Rookwood the same year as Edward. While Edward curated the Vellum glaze, Charles designed the in-slip landscape and maritime paintings under it.
Charles left Rookwood to join the R. F. Johnston Paint Co. in 1927 but ended up developing graphics at the Cincinnati Times-Star. Most of Carl’s pottery work is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
9. Sara Sax (1899 – 1931)
Sara Sax was a native Cincinnati artist known for introducing Rookwood’s ‘French Red Glaze line’ in 1899. She brought peacock and feather designs, birds, and other new animal motifs to Rookwood and worked on Art Deco and Art Nouveau pottery.
- Auction Record: Sara’s French Red Vase sold for $13,750 at Rago Art Auctions.
10. Lorinda Epply (1904 – 1948)
During her long service at Rookwood, Lorinda worked with various glazes, including the rare black opal and jewel glaze. Her work depicts simplicity, with mostly pastel cream walls and a low-contrast design on top.
- Auction Records: Lorinda Epply’s rare Turquoise Blue tinted vase was recently auctioned at $ 4,200 at Toomey & Co Auction.
Other Rookwood Pottery Designers & Artist Marks
Rookwood pottery pieces may also feature other artists’ marks and signatures. Below, we’ll look at these less common marks and collectors’ desirability for these artists’ signed pottery.
11. William Auckland (1881 – 1887)
William was Rookwood’s first official thrower (a method of shaping vessels on a potter’s wheel.) Although he didn’t decorate any pieces, his initials are found on early 1880s pottery beside the brand mark.
- Collector’s interest: Average
12. Fanny Louise Auckland (1881 – 1884)
British illustrator Fanny Auckland designed unique nail-head, stamp, or die designs for Rookwood’s red ceramic range.
- Collector’s interest: Above Average
13. Laura Anne Fry (1881 – 1888)
Apart from her painted and glazed black ink pottery, Laura is known for her mouth-blown atomizers that created the colored slip backgrounds for Rookwood’s Standard Glaze line.
- Collectors Interest: High Demand
14. Matthew Andrew Daly (1883 – 1903)
American illustrator Matthew Daly explored the conservative, leafy bamboo, butterfly, and Japanese swallow designs at Rookwood.
- Collectors Interest: High Demand
15. Anna Marie Bookprinter (1884 – 1905)
American art illustrator Anna Bookprinter is known for her Limoges and standard glaze work at Rookwood.
- Collectors Interest: Average Demand
16. Grace Young (1886 – 1904)
American portrait artist Grace Young introduced native American portrait designs to Standard and Cameo glaze pottery. Young’s signed illustrative Rookwood Pottery can fetch $400 – 5,000 per size and condition!
- Collectors Interest: High Demand
17. Edward Abel (1890 – 1935)
You can spot Edward Abel’s work on Rookwood’s Standard Glaze, Cameo Hi-Glaze, and Tiger Eye Glaze pottery.
- Collectors Demand: Average
18. John Hamilton Delany Wareham (1893 – 1950)
Former Cincinnati Art Academy student John Hamilton Delany Wareham became Rookwood’s Art President in 1934. His work usually involves floral and peacock feather motifs in the Iris, Seagreen & Matte glaze.
- Collectors Interest: Average
19. Lenore Asbury (1894 – 1931)
Another former Cincinnati Art member, Lenore Asbury, is famous for her intricate, floral, and abstract designs in the Iris and Vellum glazes.
- Collectors’ Interest: High Demand
20. Frederick Rothenbusch (1896 – 1931)
Frederick Rothenbusch, the nephew of artist Albert Valentien, worked as Rookwood’s chief decorator from 1896 to 1931. During this time, he worked with shaded or washed plaques and landscape paintings with a vellum glaze on top.
- Collectors Demand: Above Average
21. Irene Bishop (1900 – 1909)
You can spot Irenen’s work by pastel-tinted, realistic fruit, seed, or floral designs under the standard and Iris glaze.
- Collectors Demand: Average
22. Arthur Conant (1915 – 1939)
Arthur was one of the few underglaze decoration artists at Rookwood. He’s best known for high-contrast, flashy pottery paintings with natural elements. In 1920, Arthur also designed Rookwood’s Japonesque line with his pine, duck, and rabbit designs.
- Collectors Demand: Above Average
23. Louise Abel (1919 – 1932)
Louise Abel became Rookwood’s chief decorator in 1919. She revamped Rookwood’s landscape pottery with slip-painted animal, mythical, and figural designs.
- Collectors Demand: Average
24. Elizabeth Barrett (1924 – 1946)
Elizabeth played around with organic, curved, and fluid Rookwood designs under a matte or glossy glaze.
- Collectors Interest: Average
Here are some more designers who showed their artistry at Rookwood Pottery Co. for less than five to ten years. You can spot their works by their unique decorator marks and monograms on a Rookwood piece.
Katherine de Golter
(1881 – 1882)
Alice Holabird
(1881 – 1883)
Henry Farny
(1881)
William Henry Joseph Breuer
(1881 – 1883)
William Purcell McDonald
(Around 1882)
Nicholas Joseph Hirschfeld
(1882 – 1883)
Emma D. Foertmeyer
(1887 – 1895)
Sallie Toohey
(1887 – 1931)
A.E.Foy
(1889)
Kate Field
(1890)
Sarah Elizabeth Coyne
(1891 – 1939)
Charles John Dibowski
(1892 – 1895)
Daniel Cook
(1893 – 1895)
Carolyn Frances (Carrie) Steinle
(1892 – 1925)
Josephine Ella Zettel
(1892 – 1904)
Robert Bruce Horsfall
(1893 – 1896)
Katharine Hickman
(1895 – 1900)
Cora Crofton
(1896)
Rose Fechheimer
(1896 – 1906)
Arthur E. Goetting
(1896)
Elizabeth Wheldon Brain
(1898 – 1899)
Thomas Altman
(1899 – 1904)
Virginia B. Demarest
(1900 -1903)
Caroline F. Bonsall
(1901 – 1905)
Lena E. Hanscom
(1902 – 1907)
Edith Regina Felton
(1903 – 1908)
Edith Noonan
(1904 – 1910)
Orville Hicks
(1906 – 1907)
Cecil A. Duell
(1907 – 1915)
Elizabeth McDermott
(1912 – 1919)
Mary Grace Denzler
(1913 – 1917)
William Ernst Hentschel
(1913 – 1932)
Helen Lyons
(1913 – 1916)
Patti Rose Conant
(1914 – 1923)
Alice E. Caven
(1917 – 1919)
Catherine Calhoun Crabtree
(1923 – 1924)
Jens Jensen
(1927 – 1940)
Janet Harris
(1929 – 1932)
Lois Furukawa
(1944 – 1948)
Eugenia Baker
(1950)
William T. Glass
(1959 – 1963)
William F. Fry
Sallie Coyne
Like the other Rookwood brand marks, the artists’ signs can tell you a lot about Rookwood Art Pottery, like its history, maker, and age. So, use the above visual guide to identify all such rare and common artist marks and value them rightly based on their rarity.
