Vase

Around 1900, in an effort to offer works with more of a modern feel, Rookwood began producing wares decorated in mat glazes. Mat glazes are by nature opaque, therefore, all decoration was created by the glaze itself, not under a transparent glaze as in Rookwood’s previous glaze lines. This new decorative method was especially challenging. Mat glazes are too thick for fine detail and the artists could no longer achieve the same depth and subtlety in their decoration. Also, although all glazes flow downward when fired, these heavier glazes have a greater tendency to flow, creating a greater potential for loss of color.

This vase is decorated in the Painted Mat Inlay glaze line, one of the rarest and most complex of all Rookwood’s mat glaze lines. Once wares in this line were initially fired, the decorator would apply glaze with an airbrush to create the background color. After the glaze dried, portions of it were then cut away and removed to make room for the central floral decoration. The artist would then outline the edges of the intended floral decoration with a fine brush dipped in black glaze, and finally he or she would paint the flowers within the existing outlines.

Most wares decorated in the Painted Mat Inlay glaze line bear Harriet Elizabeth Wilcox's mark. Wilcox, active at Rookwood from 1886 to 1925, was one of the ablest artists working in the company’s painted mat glaze lines.