Table Lamp; body is Poppies Vase (No. 143)
Design Date 1903/1904
Designer Artus Van Briggle (1869-1904, American)
Manufacturer Van Briggle Pottery Company (1900-2012), Colorado Springs, CO
Media ceramic and brass
Dimensions 13 1/2 x 14 x 13 1/2 inches
Artus Van Briggle’s pottery designs were inspired by Colorado and the West. He used matte glazes in the muted colors of the dry landscape, and the motifs on the pots were mostly flora and fauna native to Colorado, including columbine, aspen leaves and, as on this lamp base, poppies. Van Briggle pottery was originally made from Colorado clay, shaped in a plaster mold and fired in a kiln for 40 hours. The Van Briggle Pottery made a little-known line of lamps between 1903 and 1909. 12 lamps are known to be produced, this is the only one found. In 1904, two Japanese metal craftsmen, Mr. R. Ito and Mr. S. Riosetts Fujiura, were hired to work at Van Briggle. Mr. Fujiura handmade this patinated brass lamp shade with a combination of punch work, hammered brass and cut-outs, mimicking patterns from Van Briggle pots for each base. This lamp was purchased at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition where the Van Briggle display was draped in black after Artus Van Briggle died July 4.
ON VIEW in Promenade Gallery 2
Markings Bottom inscribed, "AA Van Briggle 1903 III" and impressed "143"
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 2012.0084
