Along with Louis Rorimer of the Rokesley Shop, and the team of Jane Carson and Frances Barnum, Horace Potter was one of the founders and key figures in the Cleveland School of Arts & Crafts metalwork. Potter, who was influenced by England's Charles Robert Ashbee, went on to create the Potter Studio, which sold jewelry and silver and brass holloware.
Potter gold work is highly detailed and extremely accomplished
In 1928 Gurdon W. Bentley and Potter became partners, moved the shop to its current location, and renamed it Potter Bentley Studios. The new shop expanded to sell items such as china and garden accessories. Bentley dissolved the partnership in 1933, and that year Louis Mellen joined the company, which was renamed to its present Potter and Mellen, Inc.
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Company / Mark |
Dates |
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H.E. Potter |
1897-1907 |
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Potter Shop |
1908-1915 |
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Potter Studio |
1915-1924 |
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Potter Studio, Inc. |
1925-1928 |
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Potter-Bentley Studios |
1928-1933 |
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Potter and Mellen |
1933 - present |
source: www.pottermellen.com
In an excellent article on the Cleveland School (Silver Magazine, May/June 2005) author Leslie Marting chronicles Horace Potter's life, and showcases some wonderful examples of Potter's work:
"Horace Ephraim Potter was born into a prosperous Cleveland family in 1873…. Potter began his studies [at the Cleveland School of Art (CSA)] in 1894, graduating in June 1898…. After graduation from CSA, Potter embarked upon a year of study with Amy Sacker at the Cowles School of Art in Boston. Potter exhibited in [the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts'] second annual exhibition in Copley Hall in April 1899, and at the conclusion of his studies received a master's degree, specializing in metalwork. Returning to Cleveland, he taught at the Cleveland School of Art from 1900 to 1909, giving classes in decorative design and historic ornament.
"While teaching, Potter established a studio in downtown Cleveland. In 1905 he moved to his family's farm on the edge of the city, converting a chicken coop where he and CSA classmates Wilhelmina Stephan and Ferdinand Burgdorff designed and made silver and jewelry…. Potter maintained strong ties with Boston, becoming a "craftsman" member of the Society of Arts and Crafts in 1907 and attaining master classification the following year.
"Potter spent four and a half months in England and Europe in the spring and summer of 1907, visiting Ashbee in August…. When Potter returned from his European trip in 1907, it was clear that his experience of Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft had confirmed his belief that the creative spirit was best nurtured when artists worked together. Moving to a series of locations on Euclid Avenue between 1910 and 1928, Potter expanded his space and founded Potter Studio.
"Potter may have been attempting to recreate the interdisciplinary atmosphere of Ashbee's guild by opening his premises to other artists as well. He employed fellow graduates and former students of the Cleveland School of Art, and welcomed artists in other mediums with lodging and studio space. R. Guy Cowan, the founder of Cowan Pottery, came to Cleveland in 1908 to establish a ceramics program at the city's innovative Technical High School. Potter became Cowan's landlord and supported his endeavors. Cowan founded his own business in 1913, but Potter purchased studio-made vessels as early as 1909 and embellished them with silver or pewter lids.
"Marrying fellow silversmith Florence Loomis in 1914, he went on to found Potter & Bentley Studios in 1928, and Potter & Mellen in 1933."
Early H.E. Potter creamer and sugar set. Note the Ashbee and Nouveau influences.
The quality of Potter Studio's output varies greatly. The Ashbee-inspired H.E. Potter cream and sugar above from the company's earliest days shows Potter at his best. The gold maple leaf brooch below is a consummate Arts & Crafts piece (and one of our favorites) with a simple nature theme and wonderful workmanship, scale, and detail. The company also produced small, whimsical pieces such as the mice and crow pins below.
It seems that Potter Bentley Studios sold the work of other makers. Below is a fine pitcher by Boston maker Karl F. Leinonen, with a Potter Bentley mark along with the typical Leinonen KLF stamp:
Karl F. Leinonen lobed pitcher, with KLF and Potter Bentley marks.
High arching spout, curved arching tapering hollow handle, eight melon-ribbed
lobes above small spreading foot. Applied wire to rim. 8" W and 8-1/2" H.
Combined Potter Bentley and KLF marks on (above) pitcher made by Karl Leinonen and sold by Potter Bentley
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