1904 Weller St Louis Louisiana Purchase Expo Washington

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A nice small plaque from the Weller Pottery Company's display at the St. Louis World's Fair Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis Missouri in 1904. Many of the active art pottery manufacturers had displays and won medals at the Fair, but only Weller was lucky enough to get the coveted marketing tool of the real pottery work right at the Fair.This is one of the plaques made and distributed by the Weller Pottery at the model pottery.Mold pressed white clay with pastel green stain, 4-1/2 inches diameter x 5/8 inch tall, bust of George Washington, impressed reverse with WELLER. The following sources are great for the Weller collector and have nice sections on the Weller Pottery at the Fair: ( please attribute these wonderful authors if you use this description to sell your Weller Pottery.) McDonald, Ann Gilbert. All About Weller. A History and Collector's Guide to Weller Pottery, Zanesville,Ohio. Marietta/Antique Publications 1989. Weller's pride in his company was reflected in his mammoth display at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. In response to the promotion of the Pottery at the Exposition, customers in stores asked for Weller pottery, and by Christmas 1904, the factory shipped out and sold thousands of pots. ...Of the thirty-two potteries which vied for the honor of building a model pottery, Weller Pottery was chosen. Arthur Rose in House Furnishers, October 1904, described it "Starting with the various component parts, you are conducted through the different processes of grinding and pugging, throwing and turning, modeling, painting and decorating; in fact, everything but the firing and drawing of the kiln, these latter processes not being permitted by the officials for the general safety of the surrounding buildings." rose described the process of turning,. After he threw the pot on the wheel, the potter turned it on a lathe and removed the uneven thicknesses and the rough edges left by the throwing. When the pot was ready for decoration, the potter delivered it to the female decorators for slip painting. The model pottery was quite an achievement. The fairgoers watched the clay transform from a crude mass of earth to a finished product, either a vase or a plaque. Clay bins at one end of the pottery held flint, spar, ball and china clay. Viewers watched the clay mixed, sifted in the sifter, and agitated. They saw the clay go through a filter press w excess water was removed, then through a pugmill w it was tempered and shaped for use. They watched the jigger man jigger the clay, or throw it on the wheel. A kiln waited to received the finished product. The model pottery was quite complete, with the kiln and the clay bins on one end of the building, and a sales room on the other end. The Pottery had on display for sale; Dickensware, Lonhuda, Louwelsa, and Sicard, the latter much admired. People left St. Louis praising Weller Pottery. Sales increased dramatically after the Fair. For the general public, Weller provided plaques and red clay vases as souvenirs of the Fair. The workers made these simply and quickly and left them unglazed. They decorated some vase in slip with figures of children. They slip painted one tiny vase with a boy in a dunce's cap. Some vases sported handsome Indian chieftains, signed and dated "LPE St. Louis 1904". Most of these red clay jug, pitchers, and vases were unmarked. The Pottery made plaques of white clay, pressed molds, sometimes stained in pastel pink or green colors and signed on the reverse in tiny block letters, Weller. Workers molded several presidential plaques, notably busts of Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, McKinley, Roosevelt and Washington. Weller produced several map plaques of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase outlined, signed LPE, and dated 1803. . Huxford, Sharon and Bob. The Collectors Encyclopedia of Weller Pottery. Paducah/Collector Books 1994. Weller was rightfully proud of his product; in 1904 he erected a model pottery, fully equipped and manned with his best workers, on the grounds of the St. L... read more

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