movie theaters and factories during the building boom that followed World War I left workers with little time to devote to the less profitable pottery. However, like the terra cotta buildings that still mark America’s skylines, Gates Potteries left a lasting legacy.
Whether created by Gates, the company’s designers or Chicago architects, Teco forms were always well thought out and the product of an individual sensibility. Due to the uniformly high quality of the designs, the pure mass-production methods used to create Gates pottery did not give it a mass-produced character. This successful merging of art and industry was Gates Potteries’ most impressive achievement.
Sharon S. Darling is the author of numerous publications exploring Chicago creativity, including Teco: Art Pottery of the Prairie School and Common Clay: A History of American Terra Cotta Corporation, 1881-1966.
{SIDEBAR}
Teco Revival
The unique geometric shapes of Teco art pottery are available to a new generation, thanks to the efforts of three ardent thirty-somethings passionate about modern design. Husband/wife partners Bryan and Lisa Kelly, along with Lisa’s brother Eric O’Malley, together founded Prairie Arts in 2005 to make Teco and other iconic turn-of-the-century objects available and affordable. All three partners were raised in the Chicago area, appreciative of the progressive Prairie School’s influence on design and architecture.
The Prairie Arts trio determined to reproduce the unique Teco forms with the same integrity as the originals made by the Gates Potteries. “We spent months researching, selecting designs and consulting experts who helped us remain faithful to the originals,” notes Eric. “Our goal was to make accurate reproductions that would revive the spirit of Teco but blend gracefully with today’s interiors.” Each piece uses the same production process as the century-old originals: slip-cast in plaster molds, newly custom-crafted by a skilled model maker, then glazed and finished by hand. To assure contemporary pieces are not misidentified as vintage, Prairie Arts adds its hallmark to the underside.
The Teco Art Pottery Collection includes seven decorative vase styles offered in three historical glaze colors (green, yellow and blue) and five contemporary glaze colors (dark brown, white, natural, orange and aqua), all finished in a watertight matte satin. The three historical glazes closely match the original colors, but are lead free, so pieces do not display the charcoaling characteristic of the original Teco glazes. The vases are available through many retailers. For information, visit
www.prairie-arts.com.
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