Vernon Kilns
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Vernon Kilns was an American
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...
company in
Vernon, California Vernon is a city south of downtown Los Angeles, California, the nearest separate city to downtown Los Angeles. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States census, the least of any incorporated city in the state. Its population nearly doub ...
, US. In July 1931, Faye G. Bennison purchased the former Poxon China pottery renaming the company Vernon Kilns. Poxon China was located at 2300 East 52nd Street. Vernon produced ceramic tableware, art ware, giftware, and figurines. The company closed its doors in 1958. Vernon Kilns was one of the "Big Five" California potteries. The other "Big Five" potteries were Metlox Manufacturing Company,
Pacific Clay Products Pacific Clay Products, founded 1892, was created by the merger of several California Pottery#Southern California, Southern California potteries in the US. The company began producing utilitarian pottery in the 1920s, and introduced solid color ea ...
, Gladding, McBean & Co., and J.A. Bauer Pottery.


History

After the purchase of Poxon China in 1931, Vernon Kilns under Faye Bennison's direction continued to sell and produce Poxon China's patterns, using decals for the surface patterns. Vernon/Poxon pottery is notable for its heavier weight, and features embossed and scalloped rims. Vernon continued to produce a number of original Poxon patterns until 1933 when an earthquake destroyed most of the remaining Vernon/Poxon China ware stock. As a result, Vernon Kilns took the opportunity to create a new set of dinnerware molds: The result was the pottery company's first original dinnerware shape, ''Montecito''. In 1935, Vernon introduced their first solid color dinnerware line, ''Early California'', to complete with the other solid color dinnerware offerings popularized by potteries such as J.A. Bauer Pottery and
Pacific Clay Products Pacific Clay Products, founded 1892, was created by the merger of several California Pottery#Southern California, Southern California potteries in the US. The company began producing utilitarian pottery in the 1920s, and introduced solid color ea ...
. In the approximately 15 years that ''Early California'' was manufactured, it was produced in 11 high-gloss glazes, including yellow, turquoise, green, brown, dark blue, light blue, ivory, orange, pink, white and maroon. In the mid-1930s, Vernon established an art ware department, but suspended production of their art ware lines in 1937 due to poor economic conditions. In 1935, Gale Turnbull was hired as the art director, and under the direction of Faye Bennison, hired a series of contract designers and artists to create tableware and art ware. The roster of artists included May & Vieve Hamilton, who joined Vernon from 1936 to 1937 to create a series of vases, figurines, plaques as well as two dinnerware lines: ''Rippled'' and ''Rythmic''. Designer Harry Bird came on board during the same period and using his patented “inlaid glaze” process, produced a variety of decorated dinnerware patterns in animal, floral and bird motifs on the Montecito shape. Jane Bennison, daughter of Faye Bennison, worked summers at the pottery and contributed art ware designs, and is credited with the design of the distinctive upside-down handle on the ''Ultra'' dinnerware shape of the 1940s. Vernon continued to hire well-known artists to create new dinnerware patterns.
Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English American, English descent. ...
designed three dinnerware sets based on his famous woodcuts: ''Salamina'', ''
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'', & ''Our America''.
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, a
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an poet and illustrator designed four basic tropical design patterns for tableware. Vernon Kilns signed a contract in 1940 with
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
to make
figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...
s based on Walt Disney's films:
Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...
,
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, and The Reluctant Dragon. Vernon also manufactured art ware based on the film Fantasia. Janice Pettee sculpted and designed a series of celebrity figurines including
Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, stripper, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich-feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name B ...
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,
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,
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, Robert Preston,
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,
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, and
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. Prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Vernon Kilns ceased production of art ware, however continued to manufacture dinnerware and specialty ware. During the war, Vernon created a new set of English-style dinnerware molds and patterns to meet the demands of consumers who could no longer purchase imported dinnerware. This shape, known as ''Melinda'', featured an embossed rope motif and was decorated in approximately 24 different patterns between 1942 and 1955. In April 1946, a fire in a drying room destroyed most of the pottery plant including much of their manufacturing equipment. Vernon quickly rebuilt, but the company suffered another devastating fire in 1947. They rebuilt their manufacturing facility again, taking the opportunity to modernize. The old beehive kilns were replaced with modern tunnel kilns that dramatically increased production capacity. Vernon Kilns produced transfer-print specialty ware that could be special ordered. Custom decal plates, as special order items, were produced for department stores, for promotional advertisement, for commemorative events, and for the tourist trade. In 1952, Elliot House was hired as art director and continued to work with outside contract artists and designers such as Jean Goodwin Ames and Sharon Merrill. In 1955, Faye Bennison retired. By 1958, Vernon Kilns and several other potteries, including Santa Anita Pottery and Brock Pottery, closed their businesses due to mounting labor costs and competition from foreign imports. Metlox Manufacturing Company,
Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...
, bought the molds and continued to manufacture some of Vernon's patterns in their Vernonware division.


References


Sources

* Chipman, Jack. ''Collectors Encyclopedia of California Pottery, Second Edition''. Collector Books (1998) * Chipman, Jack. ''California Pottery Scrapbook: Identification and Value Guide''. Collector Books (2004) * Nelson, Maxine F. ''Collectible Vernon Kilns, 2nd Edition.'' Collector Books (2004)


External links


Vernonware.com
{{Authority control American art pottery Ceramics manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Vernon, California Defunct manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Manufacturing companies established in 1931 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1958 1931 establishments in California 1958 disestablishments in California Design companies established in 1931