Chelsea Keramic Art Works

Collecting & Research

Chelsea Keramic Art Works, Robertson & Sons was the first pottery to identify itself as an “art pottery” in the United States.

Chelsea Keramic was founded in 1866 by Alexander Robertson (1840-1925) in Chelsea, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. His younger brother, Hugh Robertson (1845-1908), joined him in 1868. By 1872, their father, James (1810-1880), and brother, George (1835-1914), had also joined the family enterprise, which became known as the Chelsea Keramic Art Works. Throughout the next two decades, they produced a wide variety of decorative vessels, some imitating the shapes and decoration of ancient Greek pottery and others capturing the distinct influence of Chinese and Japanese ceramics.

Chelsea Keramic quickly received attention and praise for its wares. In 1878, Jennie J. Young, the author of The Ceramic Art, wrote: 

“The artists and collectors of Boston soon discovered certain qualities in the Chelsea potters and their works deserving recognition. They may possibly have reached the conviction that Chelsea is to be numbered among the places where artists value their work solely according to its truth, excellence, and beauty. Without affecting to disregard commercial considerations, they succeed in giving their art the precedence. It is not, therefore, a matter of surprise either that they should have convinced a section of the public that Chelsea can do noble service in the cause of American art, or that many excellent works should bear its mark.”

Much of Chelsea Keramic’s products were modeled by Hugh Robertson, who possessed notable talent as a sculptor in clay. The pottery’s wares were made of either red or buff earthenware and, except for the imitations of Greek pieces, were routinely covered by a thin, glossy glaze. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, Chelsea Keramic’s lead glazes were predominantly olive greens, muted blues, shades of yellow, and browns.

Pieces of Chelsea Keramic pottery are marked in two ways.  They either carry the full Chelsea Keramic Art Works name or the abbreviated CKAW mark.