Loma of Arizona
Loma of Arizona
This is an assortment of Loma pieces that are in my collection--all copy Eva Zeisel designs for Riverside China. I have found little information about Loma but its my hunch that this pottery's production was sold regionally, probably in tourist spots in Arizona. The shapes are fairly faithful to the Zeisel originals outside of the addition of applied handles and the fact that the body is much less refined and thick. I find the handpainted decoration somewhat kitschy fun. Some of the decorations are almost elegant in my opinion. Loma also produced similarly decorated items in other (non-Zeisel) shapes, including plates, cups, bowls, etc. The Zeisel items seem to be serving ware and vases.
Loma of Arizona
Wow! I've seen some Loma pieces on ebay before but never realized they copied shapes from Eva Zeisel's Riverside line. I'm assuming here that the operative word is copy or possibly inspired by? The decoration on the large pitcher is very cool imo.
A mystery
The origins of Loma are a mystery to me and most everyone else I know who is interested. I have a suspicion that someone who worked at the Riverside factory went on to found their own pottery--Loma. Perhaps they retained original Riverside versions and made molds from them.
I do like some of the Loma decorations. Yes the lizard, which wraps all the way round the carafe, is very cool. I also especially like the antelope (?) figures on the two vases.
Interesting
I am currently curating a show of work by studio potters who passed through the doors of Black Mountain College in NC. Douglas Ferguson who founded the Pigeon Forge Pottery will be represented in the show which will be at the Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center in Asheville, NC. I am interested in the possible Pigeon Forge Zeisel connection. Ferguson was producing work that was very modern in rural Appalachia. I have often wondered why he chose to do something so different from the work you typically see from this region. His time at Black Mountain in 1952 could be one explanation as he would likely have met many of the more influential and progressive studio potters of that time period.
I have never handled a piece of Riverside but in the photos they look much more delicate than the Pigeon Forge pieces. It doesn't look like they could have come from the same molds. Also, some of the forms like the small pinched vase can be found in much older folk pottery. I know that Ferguson due to his location would have been exposed to a lot of folk pottery and some of the inspiration may have come from there. This is all just speculation on my part. If you track down any concrete information on this I would love to know.
The Loma of Arizona shapes
The Loma of Arizona shapes clearly share characteristics that unmistakably link Riverside China and Loma in some way, because of the improbability that the two sets have so many similar shapes. I speculated that maybe the molds were bought by Loma and this was the explanation.
I will not speculate on any such connection with Pigeon Forge. My own comment about the molds was not directed at Pigeon Forge, but the congruency of the variety of Loma shapes.
I am certainly interested in the argument youngmoderns is offering regarding Pigeon Forge, but I think that it can only be viewed as a working hypothesis and nothing more. I would agree that this discussion is all just speculation and concrete information or at least much more circumstantial evidence is needed before formulating any serious theories. I have taken the liberty of editing the user's album title to reflect this.
I would like to know more about your exhibition. Perhaps you could contribute a blurb or at least show details so that we could post it on this website.
I personally have an interest in any modern production by Pigeon Forge and the designers that worked there.
It sounds like you are
It sounds like you are working on a very interesting exhibition. I know that Black Mountain was quite a center of avant garde artistic and design thought with the cadre of leading teachers that passed through its gates. I did not know that Ferguson had studied there.
The time that those that worked at Riverside and later went on the found Pigeon Forge was well before Ferguson studied at Black Mountain in 1952. The production at Riverside seems to be very limited and centered around 1947.
I agree that clay bodies used by Pigeon Forge and Riverside were very different. Riverside used a delicate porcelain body and also a fine earthenware body. Pigeon Forge body, at least on most pieces is a dense stoneware. I am fairly sure that Pigeon Forge borrowed and adapted some of Zeisel's original Riverside shapes. I know of the Zeisel's candleholder, serving bowl, cruet and vase all reappearing at Pigeon Forge, with some modifications. The Pigeon Forge versions do seem to be modified more than the Loma pieces which are more direct copies. It is possible that the Pigeon Forge pinched vase could have originated elsewhere--it seems to be one of the most conventional of the original Riverside designs by Zeisel. But it is telling that Pigeon Forge made this peice which does conform to the size and shape of Zeisel's originals.
Perhaps Pigeon Forge borrowed these shapes early on because they were useful and marketable while also introducing a wide variety of original designs in subsequent years.