A look at the design, market and legacy of Victorian pottery

Monday, July 19, 2021

Whoooo Loves Majolica Owls?

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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