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Arts and Crafts for the Working Woman

A popular interest in art pottery emerged at the turn of the century, growing out of middle-class women’s interest in employment outside the home and a design reform impulse known as the Arts and Crafts movement. The latter, founded by the English poet, artist, socialist, and reformer William Morris, believed that hand-made objects were the answer to the proliferation of low-quality mass-produced goods. The Newcomb Pottery was established in 1894 by Newcomb College (Tulane University’s women’s college) as part of the school’s ambitious program of vocational training for young women artists.

Source: Harriet C. Joor, Chinaberries Vase, 1902–03, Newcomb Pottery—New Orleans Museum of Art: Gift of Newcomb College, Pierce Butler, Dean, 38.29.

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