American Art Pottery and its Inspirations

Concerning Martin Eidelberg's "Myths of Style and Nationalism: American Art Pottery at the Turn of the Century", the essays proposes the belief that American art pottery is directly influenced by the trends of Europe rather than the much-touted local and native inspirations. The pottery at the time was often advertised as being made from local materials and produced locally with location-specific ornament. However, an exploration into the many companies' and craftsperson's histories and travels reveals a close connection and often direct sourcing of European styles.

I commend the author for his amazing depth of knowledge on the subject, as I confess of all the crafts I am probably the least interested in pottery and ceramics. What I consider interesting is the need for the article in the first place. As a person straddling a European and Asian heritage and coming from the 21st century, is it not obvious that because Americans were colonized by multiple European countries that there would continue to be connections regardless of the relationship between the continents? While I concede that communication might have been a little more difficult and certainly taken much longer, I still think that patriotism and ignorant nationalistic views were dashed in the pending World Wars. Today, there would be no way one could get away with stating that one was not influenced by other cultures unless one was living under a rock. Of Europe, we are offered Il Divo. Of Africa, we are offered FIFA World Cup 2010. Of Asia, the Wii by Nintendo. Of Australia, Nicole Kidman. These references may not speak of stylistic elements, but they speak of our culture and their penetration into our psyche.