Vase

This vase is an exceptional example of Vellum, one of Rookwood’s greatest glaze lines, decorated by Carl Schmidt, the pottery's master of Venetian seascapes.

In 1904, when the Vellum line was introduced at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, it was hailed by critics as the ultimate advance in world ceramics: a mat glaze that is translucent. Mat glazes are naturally opaque, and Vellum is technically a mat glaze. Owing to its extraordinary translucency, the Vellum glaze was a triumph, and helped the pottery win yet another grand prize in international competition.

Because of the soft sheen created by the glaze, Rookwood artists found that they could decorate pieces in the Vellum line with landscapes or seascapes in a quiet mood that would be enhanced by the mat glaze. Schmidt began painting Vellum vases with peaceful Venetian scenes as early as 1904. These specimens are now known as Venetian Vellums. The Vellum line, with its subcategory of Venetian seascapes such as the one depicted on this vase, is one of Rookwood’s most important contributions to ceramic history.