What is Bauer Pottery?
Bauer Pottery is a style of American pottery produced originally by the J. A. Bauer Pottery Company from the 1880’s until the 1960’s. The simple, classic stoneware and ceramics that encompassed the style of Bauer Pottery has been adapted by the modern Bauer Pottery Company of Los Angeles, California and continues to be a beloved fixture in home kitchen across the world.
Founded in Louisville, Kentucky by J. Andy Bauer, warm weather influences of Southern California sensibilities are captured in the ease and lively undertone that all of the Bauer pieces feature. In an era when stark white, traditional dinner and serving ware was the market norm, Bauer pottery was vibrant, colorful and very different. This change from the expected prompted quick reaction. Bauer pottery nearly immediately became popular. Items from the original Bauer lines are considered highly collectible. The most common pieces that survive from when manufacturing ended in the early 1960’s are pitchers and mixing bowls. Pottery studios across the United States were quick to replicate the richly colored and hugely popular designs of J. A. Bauer.
The current Bauer Pottery Company follow the same simple style of the original pieces in the Bauer 2000 collection. Bright colors, functional pieces and flawless stoneware and ceramic craftsmanship are staples of the line that offers pottery for dinnerware, serving, beverage, home and garden. The similarities between the two pottery lines extend farther than name and design. In a modern time when sleek, chrome minimalism is becoming more prevalent, the vibrancy of Bauer Pottery continues to be refreshing.
Bauer Pottery is pottery produced by the J.A. Bauer Pottery Company, which was active from 1885 to 1862. This pottery is viewed as an antique collector’s item, with pottery from the 1930s and 1940s being especially prized. Collection of Bauer Pottery has been complicated by the fact that the company left many of its products unmarked, making it impossible to verify the provenance of some pieces. The company is associated with Los Angeles, but it was actually established in Paducah, Kentucky, by J. Andy Bauer. Bauer’s work was widely sold in the Midwest, and grew very popular there, but he suspected that his distribution was limited by his location, and so he opened a factory in Los Angeles to expand operations in 1909. In Los Angeles, Bauer’s pottery was heavily influenced by local artisans, and by the growing Arts and Crafts Movement. Bauer Pottery is stoneware, designed in a solid way which is designed to last. The pottery was meant to be used as every day dinnerware, and to withstan
