How 'boutcha, Rookwood?

My Derby Day weekend was capped off by a Sunday afternoon visit to the open house hosted by Rookwood Pottery. The highlight of which was the exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of the facility by their newly-hired production manager ["PM"], none other than The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm.  In the photo below, Mrs Incomparable Joe Wilhelm captures us posing just outside the PM's office:

Great photography, Mary!

Jo-Jo's tour was highly informative, sensorially stimulating, energetic and - best of all - funny.  The PM gave our V.I.P. tour group consisting of Townie family and friends a demonstration of how to use a press:

The end result was a masterpiece in clay.  Joey proudly displayed the product of his toil, a not-yet-on-sale Miami University commemorative tile:

Joe's brother-in-law Roscoe and his niece Pasqualina and nephew Lefty examine the piece in close detail.  The rest of us stood in awe of Joe's unparalleled creative talent.  Well, he did press a button and pull a lever.  The workshop was abuzz with activity and jam-packed with items awaiting the deft flourishes of Rookwood's in-house artists:

We watched as one artist put the finishing touches on a 12-panel piece [not photographed] for one of Rookwood's benefactors.  The 12 large tiles were of an outdoor scene; brook, evergreen trees, elk, assorted geomorphic forms and estimated (by the artist) to be valued at $20,000.  Around one corner and down another hall we looked in on Rookwood's vast array of color samples, of which I only photographed a fraction:

With a wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Jo-Jo laid his finger aside his nose and said; "Now dash away, dash away all" and led us into the secret vaults of Rookwood:

DJ and Joyce pepper their boy with inquisitive queries.  Mostly, The Hit Doctor wanted to know where were the complimentary refreshments and if the Reds were still beating the Cubs (they were).  DJ also may or may not have identified a flaw in Reds third baseman Todd Frazier's timing mechanism and suggested that Reds shortstop Zack Cozart adjust his batting stance.  

Behold!!  The Rookwood Archives:

Row upon row of shelves containing the innumerable pieces (and molds) of Rookwood's glorious history.  Here's a close-up of a mold for one of the pieces currently on sale:

The Rookwood apple is an attractive display piece and offers the functionality of a paper weight.  Our extensive tour concluded in front of a massive fireplace surround preparing to be shipped-off to parts unknown, valued at two-and-a-half Hondas:

My Dear Elderly Mother provides scale for this impressive, outsized piece. Of course, the scale may be a bit deceptive due to the diminutive size of My Dear Elderly Mother.  Everything you see here is a product of Rookwood's artisans, excluding Mom - of course - but including the mantle.  Of note, the many faces of historical figures from Cincinnati's past that were reproduced onto the tiles through a new process innovated at Rookwood by which they are stenciled onto the tiles with glaze before being fired.  Ingenious!  Above the mantle, a scene depicting various critters found in the wild but not found in Over-The-Rhine, at least not since 1750 A.D.  Here's a close-up of..... umm....

.....a wolf?  With flower petals for eyes?  And a chain clenched in its teeth?  Symbolizing the.... err.... unbreakable unity of.... umm.... delicate yet savage fragrance.... uh.... OK, I give up.  I'm glad someone in this world - or Cincinnati - has artistic vision, I certainly am incapable of such fanciful flights of fantasy.  That's just one more credit to the folks at Rookwood.  

After spending hundreds of dollars in the gift shop (hey, somebody has to fund Joe's salary!), we exited Rookwood's facility and stepped back into the Wild West that is the modern Over-The-Rhine. Standing in the center of the roadway, in a steady rain, I dared the ungovernable denizens of OTR to run me over (or shoot at me or stab me or rob me or....) as I photographed this old church which occupies the northern extremity of Race Street:

At left, My Dear Elderly Mother (blue jacket, hood up against the rain) attempts to find an unlocked door on my Jeep in which to deposit her bounty of Mother's Day gifts. Note that on this downhill street, only one vehicle has it's front wheels turned towards the curb. The rest of the vehicles parked on Race Street serve to demonstrate the outlaw nature of OTR's criminal element!  OK, OK.  These were actually the parked cars of Rookwood's patrons.

Driving away from Rookwood, down Race Street, one cannot help but envision how beautiful OTR was..... one hundred-plus years ago.  Grand residential architecture, private courtyards, long-abandoned churches of monumental size that are - seemingly - so numerous they must cast shadows upon one another, tree-shaded sidewalks.  It really is something worth seeing, if only for it's ability to transport you to a distant time in Cincinnati's past. 

Just don't go see it after sunset.

Long-range Reconnaissance

So long as the subject of OTR's glory days has been raised, here's a look back at Over-the-Rhine circa 1905:

Music Hall (above) was completed in 1878 and it is haunted.  So said the late Erich Kunzel and that's good enough for me!

Music Hall looms in the background of this photograph of Washington Park.  Prior to its redevelopment into a park by the city of Cincinnati, this parcel of land had been a cemetery.  It, too, must therefore be haunted.  The monument above is of German native, Illinois resident and Civil War veteran Friedrich Hecker who, at various times, commanded the 24th and 82nd Illinois Infantry.  Hecker was a radical Republican who opposed the re-nomination of President Lincoln.

Rookwood Pottery was founded in 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols Storer.  The Longworths settled in Cincinnati by 1808 and were vintners.  The family became 1%ers through real estate and rose to political power; one Longworth became a member of the Ohio state supreme court (1881-1883), another - Nicholas Longworth - served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1903-1913, 1915-1931 and served as Speaker of the House from 1925-1931 and eventually married Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt.  The photo above purports to be of "The Longworth Home."  Which Longworth I do not know nor do I know where in Cincinnati this house was/is.  Cool looking place, though!