
Newcomb College Pottery in New Orleans operated for almost fifty years and was one of the most successful and admired potteries in the American Arts and Crafts movement. Founded in 1886 by wealthy widow Josephine Louise Newcomb (pictured), Newcomb College was, in essence, the women’s branch of nearby men’s-only Tulane University. The pottery itself developed in stages and grew out of the omnipresent belief that crafts were an appropriate, and acceptable, career choice for women.
Art classes at Newcomb were first guided by the brothers William and Ellsworth Woodward, New England transplants with design training who were heavily influenced by the incredible display of ingenuity at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. They taught art classes at Newcomb through the late 1880s, all the while hiring staff that would help build the foundations of the pottery. Joseph Fortune Meyer, a local potter, was hired to build the kiln and throw pots, and even George Ohr worked there for a brief stint as Meyer’s assistant. Mary Given Sheerer, a Cincinnati-trained ceramist, was hired in 1894 to teach pottery and china decoration, unofficially launching Newcomb College Pottery. The enterprise blossomed quickly from there. In 1896 the college held its first exhibition and sale of pottery produced by Sheerer and her students, and in 1900 Newcomb pottery won a bronze medal at the Paris International Exposition. By 1901, demand was outpacing supply and the University provided the financial and official recognition needed to turn the Newcomb College Pottery into a long-term commercial enterprise.
Newcomb College Pottery was influenced primarily by traditional English Arts and Crafts principles, in large part due to the Woodwards, who had been trained by English instructors at American schools. One of the main concerns of the movement was the interrelationship between art, industry, and design, and the importance of every artisan involved in the process of creation. This led to Newcomb’s complex system of marks, which were created with the express purpose of recognizing each craftsperson involved, from the thrower (often Joseph Fortune Meyer, denoted with a ‘JM’) to the decorator (one of the ninety young women who attended the school over the course of its existence). Also in keeping with Arts and Crafts tenets, each piece was unique, though some designs were repeated with small variations. Flora and, occasionally, fauna were the primary subjects, with special emphasis placed on Southern species.
Work from the early to middle period is characterized by flat, conventionalized designs and a relatively simple palette of blue, green, black, and yellow. As 1910 approached, designs became slightly more integrated and realistic. The biggest stylistic shift occurred around 1910 with the introduction of a mat glaze by Sheerer, which was further perfected into a transparent mat glaze by ceramic chemist Paul Cox, a recent graduate of Charles Binns’ courses at Alfred University. The color palette changed as well, becoming softer and muted, more aesthetically related to New England’s Marblehead Pottery. After World War I vases were still handmade but designs were more heavily reproduced. The bold lines and colors of the early work were gone, and idyllic Southern landscapes, daffodils, and dogwood were heavily relied upon as subjects. Three of Newcomb’s longtime designers, Henrietta Bailey, Sadie Irvine, and Anna Frances Simpson, were responsible for much of the pottery decoration in later years. In the 1920s and 1930s, Joseph Meyer, Mary Sheerer, and Ellsworth Woodward retired, and fewer students opted to study pottery. Newcomb struggled to stay current with styles and practices, but finally closed in 1940.
At the pottery’s height, between 1910 and 1915, their work was rewarded with prizes at eight international expositions in addition to being published in national and international publications. They were also mentioned alongside other major potteries of the time, including Grueby, Rookwood, and others. Newcomb College Pottery, in its wide variety of styles and often exceptionally executed designs, has withstood the test of time and is considered today to be some of the finest American art pottery of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Auction Results Newcomb College Pottery

Harriet Joor for Newcomb College Pottery
Exceptional large early vase
result: $21,250

Henrietta Bailey for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine Early Vase
result: $18,750

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
early vase with irises
result: $12,500

Marie de Hoa LeBlanc for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine, large, and early vase
result: $10,625

Marie Ross for Newcomb College Pottery
Early vase with cactus blossoms
result: $10,000

Sadie Irvine for Newcomb College Pottery
vase with tall pines and full moon
result: $9,375

Henrietta Bailey for Newcomb College Pottery
Early wall-hanging charger with lilies
result: $8,750

Leona Nicholson for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine early vase
result: $8,750

Mary W. Butler for Newcomb College Pottery
Early bowl
result: $8,125

Marie de Hoa LeBlanc for Newcomb College Pottery
Leblanc; Newcomb College Tall Early Vase
result: $8,125

Sabina E. Wells for Newcomb College Pottery
large vase with female lions under palm trees
result: $8,125

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
Willows Transitional plaque
result: $7,680

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine unusually tall scenic vase
result: $7,500

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
large vase with live oaks and Spanish moss
result: $7,500

Harriet Joor for Newcomb College Pottery
Early vase with tulips
result: $7,150

Mary Sheerer for Newcomb College Pottery
Palms Transitional plaque
result: $7,040

Marie de Hoa LeBlanc for Newcomb College Pottery
Tall early vase
result: $6,875

Marie Ross for Newcomb College Pottery
early vase with ladyslipper orchids
result: $6,875

Henrietta Bailey for Newcomb College Pottery
early wall-hanging charger with live oaks
result: $6,250

Desiree Roman for Newcomb College Pottery
early vase with stylized arrowroot
result: $6,250

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine large scenic vase
result: $6,250

Harriet Joor for Newcomb College Pottery
Early vase
result: $5,938

Mary Sheerer for Newcomb College Pottery
early vase with thistle
result: $5,625

Anna Frances Simpson for Newcomb College Pottery
Fine early vase
result: $5,625