Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters

Reprint of a 1903 work exploring the Pennsylvania German folk art of slipware or redware pottery. Explores tools and processes of manufacture, techniques and variations, decoration, motives, coloring, types, and practical uses.

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Published in 1903 by the Pennsylvania Museum, Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters is an in-depth look into the Pennsylvania German folk art known as slipware or redware. This volume introduces readers to the subject by detailing the international history of slip decoration and providing an overview of the technique and products throughout the world. Curator Edwin Atlee Barber delves into the specifics of the Pennsylvania German folk art by exploring tools and processes of manufacture, techniques and variations, decoration, motives, coloring, types, and practical uses for pottery, illustrated by numerous black-and-white images from the Pennsylvania Museum’s extensive collection.

The volume also contains a detailed discussion of famous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century potters, primarily from Montgomery and Bucks Counties, including biographical information and illustrative photographs of their work. Particular attention is paid to the Pennsylvania German dialect and the important role it played in folk art. Barber provides translations of numerous Pennsylvania German inscriptions, a defining element of much of this art.

Modern readers can still find many of the pieces featured in this volume on display in the American collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.