History
In 1895 Elbert Hubbard founded the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, New York, carving the motto "Head, Heart, Hand" into the front door of the Inn. Roycroft would become a cornerstone of the American Arts & Crafts Movement, employing 500 artisans at its peak and supplying hand crafted products to over 300 retail outlets around the country until 1938. The Roycroft Campus is a National Historic Landmark.
Researchers have determined that two landscape painters, Carl Ahrens and Eleanor Douglass, attempted pottery making here in 1900. Their efforts were not successful and there are no examples of their work. Any ceramic object with a single R mark was manufactured by Buffalo China for the Roycroft Inn and for the Roycrofters "goodie baskets".
Established in 1974, the Roycroft Pottery was the only working artisan studio on the Roycroft Campus until Janice McDuffie moved the production to her home January of 2009 after 35 years on the campus. She has been testing glazes ever since, developing a new glaze palette for the new firing conditions.
Researchers have determined that two landscape painters, Carl Ahrens and Eleanor Douglass, attempted pottery making here in 1900. Their efforts were not successful and there are no examples of their work. Any ceramic object with a single R mark was manufactured by Buffalo China for the Roycroft Inn and for the Roycrofters "goodie baskets".
Established in 1974, the Roycroft Pottery was the only working artisan studio on the Roycroft Campus until Janice McDuffie moved the production to her home January of 2009 after 35 years on the campus. She has been testing glazes ever since, developing a new glaze palette for the new firing conditions.
Original Roycroft Trademark
The Original Roycroft trademark was adapted from a symbol used by a school of 14th Century monks to identify their hand illuminated manuscripts. This single "R" brand appeared on Roycroft merchandise fabricated in East Aurora from 1895 to 1938.
Roycroft Pottery Studio Mark
The distinctive orb and cross within a rectangle has been impressed on each original piece of Roycroft Pottery since 1974. The symbol is used to verify that the work was produced on the Roycroft Campus, or recently, produced by Janice McDuffie at her home studio in East Aurora.
W.W. Denslow Seahorse Roycroft Pottery Trademark
The W.W. Denslow seahorse version of the Roycroft trademark was originally a watermark found on early handmade paper imported from England. It was combined with the double "R" mark to become the Roycroft Potters logo approximately between 1990 - 2004. Use of this logo was dropped in 2004 in favor of the original mark, the orb and cross.
