Eureka Pottery Majolica

Eureka majolica Merry Xmas and Happy New Year dessert stand

Very little is known about the Eureka Pottery. What we do know is that the company was founded in 1883 by Leon Weil when he took over the Franklin Pottery at the corner of Prince St. and Meade St. in Millham Township, New Jersey, an area now part of Trenton, Mercer County.

Map of Millham, NJ

Location of  Eureka Pottery at Prince and Mead St.

Leon Weil was a relative stranger to the pottery business, having formerly been involved in the liquor distribution business in Philadelphia. He fled Philadelphia to avoid creditors after the failure of his company and settled in New Jersey where he established the Eureka pottery with money from his wife’s family. His pottery experience was peripheral, having dabbled in the business around Philadelphia for several years. Eureka was a small, single kiln operation. Unfortunately, Weil’s lack of experience in the trade forced him into bankruptcy after only one year, closing his business in February 1884.

After the failure of Weil's investment, the pottery reverted to property owner Thomas Whitehead from whom the property was leased, who offered the pottery to Noah Bock and Charles Bock. They continued use of the Eureka site and name, expanding to a larger site nearby they renamed the Eureka Porcelain Works, potting earthenware and porcelain. There is no indication that they continued production of majolica but the possibility exists. The Bocks operated the pottery only until 1887 when it was closed by a devastating fire. It was succeeded by Pope & Lee’s Pottery in that location.

The Eureka Pottery’s majolica production was small and short lived. Several of the designs were copies of European designs while some others were clearly inspired by English predecessors, but they did make a few original designs, and the surviving marked wares confirm their high quality. 

Two designs were direct copies of Shorter & Boulton originals.

Eureka Pottery majolica pitcher

Shorter & Boulton majolica pitcher

Eureka Pottery majolica plate

Shorter & Boulton majolica plate

The company made a copy of a Schiller & Son design.

Eureka Pottery butter dish with stand

Schiller & Son cane ware butter dish

The company also made some original designs.

Eureka vase inspired by the Shorter & Boulton 

pitcher shown above

Eureka Pottery majolica plate inspired by the 

Wedgwood majolica Lincoln plate below.

Wedgwood majolica Lincoln plate

Eureka majolica Merry Xmas and Happy New Year plate

Eureka majolica potpourri jar

Eureka Pottery floral plate

The reverse of Eureka pieces are sponged with a brown glaze over a white body Marked pieces have the words EUREKA POTTERY impressed in a semicircle above TRENTON in a straight line.

Reverse of the rabbit butter stand shown above.

Attribution Hearsay

A search on the literature often attributes the well known majolica Fan pieces to Eureka but there is no proof of this. I believe this attribution was first made by Charles Rebert and later repeated by Mariann Katz-Marks in the early resources on majolica based largely on hearsay. 

Image from Charles Rebert's American Majolica 1850-1900 

showing the erroneous attribution of Shorter and Boulton Fan and 

Wardle Fan wares to Eureka

Any adscription that Eureka played in copying the Shorter & Boulton Fan pieces is unsubstantiated. 

Marked Shorter & Boulton Fan ice cream dish

The pattern certainly appeared to have been copied by a pottery in the United States but it is unknown if Eureka is responsible. It seems unlikely considering the company's short life span. There has never been a marked example found, nor do the reverses match known Eureka pieces. More evidence points to the Willets Pottery, also of Trenton, as the pottery that created these Fan copies. As such I am not including them here as credited to Eureka. For more information on the literature tying these Fan pieces to Willets Excelsior Pottery check my previous post on the Willets Pottery.

An interesting side note to the Eureka story is that shards of an unglazed example of the Eureka Merry Xmas and Happy New year plate mold were discovered on the grounds of the South Carolina Pottery Company.

There doesn't seem to be any proof as yet that the South Carolina Pottery Co. created copies from these Eureka molds but that possibility remains open. Until further information surfaces we simply don't know.

Glorious Majolica Grapes

If there is one fruit celebrated throughout history it is the grape. Symbolic with prosperity from ancient times the grape and its fermented juice had its own gods. In ancient Egypt it was Shezmu. In ancient Greece it was Dionysus with its Roman counterpoint Bacchus, often in the company of a goat. In Chinese mythology it is Yidi and in India it is Varuni and Shiva. In the Christian religion fermented grape juice—wine—is a crucial component of the Eucharist. That gives the Judeo-Christian world a connection with the grape of rebirth and blessing.

The Spanish have a tradition of eating twelve grapes on New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight for good luck all year long.

The Victorians also celebrated the grape, to whom it represented friendship and hospitality. As such grape iconography was plentiful in Victorian culture and pottery. Majolica, of course was no exception with its abundance of Neo-classic iconography. Grape related items are found everywhere; from elaborate Minton centerpieces to humble Etruscan grape servers. Wine ewers, grapes, grape leaves and grape vines are pervasive, often associated with satyrs and fauns as well as with foxes, a reference to the “sour grapes” Aesop’s fable. 

Let’s take a look at some representative pieces.

Elaborate Minton majolica wine cooler

Minton majolica wine cooler, decorated by Thomas Kirby

Minton majolica wine cooler

Minton majolica wine cistern 

Minton majolica wine ewer

Minton majolica cat vase

Minton majolica wine jug

Minton majolica "Sour Grapes" vase

Minton majolica table salt

Minton majolica grape server

Minton majolica putti and goat figural

George Jones majolica faun grape server

George Jones majolica wine cooler

George Jones majolica fox grape tray

George Jones majolica palm grape tray

George Jones majolica faun and shell

George Jones majolica grape center

George Jones majolica fruit center

Wedgwood majolica satyr wine ewer

Wedgwood  majolica strawberry and grape tray

Wedgwood majolica grape and strawberry plate

Wedgwood majolica putti and goat figural

Wedgwood majolica grape dessert stand

Wedgwood majolica Satyr plate

Wedgwood majolica grape leaf plate

Wedgwood majolica fox and grapes tile

Wedgwood majolica grape humidor

Wedgwood majolica grape server

Wedgwood majolica grape server

Wardle majolica grape server

Forester majolica grape wine cooler

Copeland majolica wine cooler

Copeland majolica grape center

Brown-Westhead Moore majolica grape jug

Brown-Westhead Moore "Sour Grapes" jug

Alcock majolica grape tray

Holdcroft grape leaf dessert stand

Unattributed majolica grape plate

Unattributed majolica fox and grapes server

Villeroy & Boch majolica grape plate

Lonitz majolica grape center

Sarreguemines majolica grape plate

Onnaing majolica grape dessert plate

Onnaing majolica grape and vine plate

Théodore Deck grape charger

Longchamp majolica barbotine charger

Avalon Faience grape tray

Etruscan Majolica grape leaf on basket plate

Etruscan Majolica grape plate

For me personally, grapes have always had a special connection. Growing up my favorite Greek food was stuffed grape leaves, dolmathes (Ντολμάδες). Most people are used to the soft greasy things that come ready made in a jar or can, but the real thing made fresh is nothing like that. If you have the ambition to try it you won’t regret it. Your guests will clammer for more. 

Here’s the recipe:

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

INGREDIENTS

STUFFING:

3 T. olive oil

1 c. minced yellow onion

1 c. uncooked long grain rice

1 c. raw ground beef,  or lamb 95% lean

3 T. fresh dill chopped

3 T. fresh parsley chopped

Jar of Greek cured grape leaves

MARINADE:

Juice of 1 1/2 large lemons

1/2 c. olive oil

Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS 

1. Make stuffing: Add olive oil to skillet. Over medium fire, add the rest of the stuffing ingredients and  keep stirring over medium fire until meat is cooked. (Rice will still be raw). Set aside to cool.

2. Prepare leaves: Unroll the grape leaves from the jar. Rinse each grape leaf. Trim off stems. Take a grape leaf and place flat, dull side up, with the pointed part away from you. Place an extra small leaf over the area where the stem was cut). Place about a Tbsp of stuffing in the shape of a tootsie roll on that extra small leaf. Fold sides over and roll up. Makes 30.

3. Prepare pot to cook dolmathes: You will need a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven and a ceramic plate that fits inside the pot over the dolmathes while they cook. Line the bottom of the stock pot with about 10 rinsed off grape leaves. Add dolmathes on top of the leaves. Add one layer at a time. Pour marinade over the dolmathes evenly. Place a ceramic plate over the dolmathes to prevent them from moving. Pour water over until plate is almost submerged.

4. Bring to boil and lower heat, then allow to cook on low fire for 1 hour 10 mins. Watch the water, to avoid scorching the bottom. Most of the liquid should be evaporated at the end of cooking time. If it evaporates too fast you may need to add more water. When cool, you can remove the dolmathes. 

They can be served warm or at room temperature, making them a perfect make-ahead appetizer. They can also be served with tzatziki, a dill flavored yogurt sauce.

Note: You can use fresh grape leaves from your own vines but these should be parboiled before using.

Thanks to my niece @1000cravings for her photos.