Hugh C. Robertson (1845–1908) was the first American

studio potter Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.Emmanuel Cooper, ...

who experimented with new

ceramic glaze Ceramic glaze is an impervious layer or coating of a vitreous substance which has been fused to a pottery body through firing. Glaze can serve to color, decorate or waterproof an item. Glazing renders earthenware vessels suitable for holding ...

s. Born in England, Robertson apprenticed at the Jersey City Potter in 1860. In 1868, he started work in his father's shop that had opened in 1866 in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

. In 1872 the factory was incorporated into the Chelsea Keramic Art Works (CKAW). The company became known for their antique Grecian

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and Pompeian bronzes. In 1877, Robertson developed the Chelsea

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

, underglazed opaque

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

, which led the development of other American faience. There in 1884, Robertson worked on discovering the famous Chinese

sang de boeuf glaze Sang de boeuf glaze, or sang-de-boeuf, is a deep red colour of ceramic glaze, first appearing in Chinese porcelain at the start of the 18th century. The name is French, meaning " ox blood" (or cow blood), and the glaze and the colour sang de boeu ...

. In 1888, he finally discovered the recipe for the glaze and produced three hundred pieces of what he dubbed, ''Sang de Chelsea''. The Arts and Crafts, and the Art Pottery Movement owes much to Hugh Robertson. After years of experimentation, and eventual artistic success, Hugh Robertson exhausted the finances of the Chelsea Keramic Art Works and the studio closed in 1889. He did not return to the pottery world until July 17, 1891, when he established Chelsea Pottery, US in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

. Robertson later went on to success in 1895, with the Dedham Pottery Company, in good part based on his glaze's success at the Chelsea Keramic Art Works. File:Hugh-Robertson-CKAW-Oxblood.jpg, Experimental

Oxblood glaze Sang de boeuf glaze, or sang-de-boeuf, is a deep red colour of ceramic glaze, first appearing in Chinese porcelain at the start of the 18th century. The name is French, meaning " ox blood" (or cow blood), and the glaze and the colour sang de boeu ...

vase by Hugh Robertson while at Chelsea Keramic Art Works (CKAW) File:Covered Sugar Bowl MET DT7411.jpg, Chelsea Keramic Art Works tea set,

, 1879–83

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Further reading