Blue Abingdon Urn/Vase #126 B3205

Extremely handsome piece in a classical Greek style at home in the Deco era, measures 13" x 9" x 9".

Abingdon Pottery has made high-quality porcelain plumbing fixtures since 1908, and the company is still operating today. However, the advent of the 1930s Depression resulted in a slowing of new construction that forced the business to seek a different use for its kilns and workers for a period that lasted 17 years. Between 1934 and 1950, the plumbing company’s innovative solution to scarcity of building jobs was to shift about half of its output to producing porcelain art wares, largely to make handsome vases.

The unique aspect of Abingdon’s ceramics, by comparison to its competitors, was the use of very high firing kilns creating vitreous porcelain objects. Certain clays, such as those used in better plumbing fixtures, shrink about 10-12% in the heat and become watertight. Flower vases produced by Abingdon never leak or leave damp spots, but they are markedly heavier than most other depression-era vases. - Susan Eastman, Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana.