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Ernest Allan Batchelder (January 22, 1875 – August 6, 1957) was an American artist and educator who made
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
his home in the early 20th century. He created art
tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ...
s and was a leader in the American Arts and Crafts Movement.


Early life

Ernest Allan Batchelder was born on January 22, 1875 in Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. In 1894, Batchelder began attending classes at Massachusetts Normal Art School (now
Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art sc ...
), which was founded in 1873 with the intention to support the Massachusetts Drawing Act of 1870 by providing drawing teachers for the public schools as well as training professional artists, designers, and architects. In 1899 he received his Public School Class diploma. Batchelder came to
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...
, in the early 1900s to teach, and became director of the art department at Throop Polytechnic Institute, the predecessor of the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
.


Career

Batchelder's life took a turn in 1909 when, behind his house overlooking the Arroyo Seco, he built a
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
and entered the business of creating hand-crafted art tiles. The tiles were hugely popular, and by the 1920s, Batchelder's tiles could be found in homes and buildings across the United States. Batchelder's prominence in Southern California's art community included his involvement in the founding of the Pasadena Art Institute and his membership in the
Pasadena Society of Artists The Pasadena Society of Artists is a nonprofit arts organization in southern California, United States. It holds annual art exhibitions of its members' art works. Overview Pasadena Society of Artists, from its founding, attracted practitioners of a ...
. Batchelder was also the third Chairman of the Board of Directors for the
Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...
, to which he contributed an original tile fireplace and fountain (recently restored). The style in which Batchelder worked was highly distinctive. First, he used a single-fire process known as engobe in which a primary wash of colored clay slip (usually pale blue) was applied to the surface of the tile before being fired, pooling in the recesses of the design, with excess being wiped off. Then the tile was fired. A typical glazed tile is fired twice–once before glaze, and once after, thereby sealing in the added color. Batchelder's designs often drew on Medieval themes but also included flowers, vines, and California oaks; birds, particularly peacocks; Mayan patterns; Byzantine themes; and geometric shapes. Batchelder architectural tiles met with great success, and the company moved twice, expanding each time. Its tiles appear on the walls and floors of many New York City apartment house lobbies, and can be found in shops, restaurants, swimming pools and hotels throughout the United States. One of Batchelder's last and largest projects was the Hershey Hotel in Hershey,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, built by the famous chocolate manufacturer in 1930, in order to give jobs to many local residents who would otherwise have been unemployed during the Depression. Batchelder tiles appeared on the walls, floors and stair risers of a dazzling fountain room, complete with central pool and a mezzanine level. Unfortunately, Batchelder's company, which had employed 150 men at its peak, was forced out of business by the Great Depression in 1932; although Batchelder continued to make pottery in a small shop in Pasadena until the early 1950s. In addition to the Batchelder Tile Company, there were numerous other California tile manufacturers. The abundant local clays, inexpensive fuel, power, and cheap labour were all factors that contributed to an active tile industry, while the rapidly growing population led to a continual demand for new buildings. Moreover, the most popular local architectural styles, such as Spanish, Mediterranean and Colonial Revival, use large amounts of tile. One of Batchelder's famous earliest commissions became Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument No. 137: a Dutch-themed Chocolate Shop. The cocoa-brown walls were crowned with tiles of Dutch maidens, wooden clogs, and windmills. "It's certainly one of the most beautiful and extravagant tile interiors in Los Angeles or anywhere," said Ken Bernstein, manager of the city's Office of Historic Resources. "It's a remarkable example of the use of ceramic tile and a preeminent example of Batchelder's work."


Batchelder House

The Batchelder House built in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...
, in the early 1900s, and where he set up his first kiln, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. He lived nearby to California Impressionism painter Jean Mannheim. The current resident, the late Dr. Robert Winter, wrote the definitive Batchelder history, ''Batchelder Tilemaker'' (1999, Balcony Press, ). Although the house is not open to the public, some Batchelder tiles, stamped with
heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
animals and figures, may be found on the walkway in front of the dwelling.


Books

Batchelder wrote two books on tile design: ''The Principal of Design'', (1901); ''Design in Theory and Practice'', (1911).


Awards and honors

*Between 2016 and 2017, the Pasadena Museum of History in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...
hosted ''Batchelder: Tilemaker'', a retrospective of Batchelder's life and career.


See also

* California pottery, tile * Artists of the Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles)


References


External links


Throop Polytechnic InstituteThe California Institute of TechnologyThe Pasadena Society of Artists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batchelder, Ernest A. American artisans American ceramists Arts and Crafts movement artists 1870s births 1957 deaths California people in design Artists from Pasadena, California Arts and Crafts architecture in California Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) California Institute of Technology faculty 19th-century American artists 20th-century American artists