Majolica potters loved owls! Recently while I was researching majolica owls for an Instagram post, I was truly surprised by how many examples were available to me. Some were by large potters like Lonitz and Minton and some were by smaller potteries like Mayer and Robinson & Leadbeater. Owls were also popular on both sides of the Atlantic with European and American potters joining in the fun. I thought it might be worth taking a look at some of them.
Potteries like Brown-Westhead Moore and Minton loved their owls! Each featured the bird in multiple pieces.
Minton majolica owl vase
Minton majolica owl vase
Brown-Westhead Moore owl vase
Brown-Westhead Moore owl figure
Brown-Westhead Moore owl jardiniere
Brown-Westhead Moore jardiniere
Copeland and George Jones made owl pieces.
Copeland majolica owl
George Jones majolica snowy owl
Burmantofts and Bretby made owl pieces.
Burmantofts and Bretby made identical majolica owl vases
Bretby majolica owl vases with glass eyes
Monumental Bretby owl umbrella stand with glass eyes
Brownfield made an owl pitcher
Breathy made umbrella stands with glass eyes...
Breathy majolica owl umbrella stand
Breathy majolica owl umbrella stand
George Skey made a coy horned owl wall bracket.
Skey majolica owl shelf
Robinson & Leadbeater made a lovely piece with cuddling owls that was later copied by the Swedish pottery Gustafsberg. They also made a matching piece with just one owl.
Robinson & Leadbeater majolica owls
Robinson & Leadbeater solitary majolica owl
Gustafsberg majolica owls
Lonitz made several life size highly detailed owl figures, all with glass eyes.
Lonitz Great Horned owl figure
Lonitz barn owl figure
Lonitz majolica owl
Lonitz Great Horned owl figure
There are the unusual Goldscheider Great Horned owl figures sitting on a pile of books, also with glass eyes.
Goldsheeder majolica owl
There were owls from smaller potteries...
...there are owl bud vases...
...there are the popular owl pitchers from both Europe and the United States in multiple sizes, designs and colorways.
Unattributed majolica owl pitcher
The Morley Pottery of Ohio's. majolica owl pitcher
English owl pitchers
English owl pitchers
Salins majolica owl pitcher
Nimy majolica owl pitcher
There are stylized owls...
Faux owl pitcher from Onnaing
Cylindrical owl pitcher
Majolica owl head pitcher
Majolica owl tobacco box
...and of course there are the Austrian owl smoking items.
Owl majolica smoke stand
Anthropomorphic owl humidor
Owl majolica umidor
Owl majolica humidor with glass eyes
Lady owl humidor
The Mayer Pottery of Trenton, N.J. made an owl paperweight.
Mayer majolica owl paperweight
Several fan pieces were created by Willets Manufacturing of Trenton, N.J. using an owl as a design element
Shorter & Boulton fan pitchers.
Willets/Shorter & Boulton fan tea set
Shorter & Boulton/Willets majolica pen tray
Shorter & Boulton majolica fan dish
So many owls, yet I'm sure I missed a few. I'll close with an old African proverb:
The owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees, the less it talks.
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