Haeger Pottery

If you like to collect pottery or are a beginning collector, a good choice would be Haeger Pottery. It is one of the most prolific potteries and only just closed in 2016 because it could no longer compete with cheap foreign imports. You are likely to find pretty Haeger pottery quite easily at flea markets and local thrift shops.

The Haeger Pottery Company was founded on the banks of the Fox River in Chicago due to the abundance of clay. A German immigrant by the name of David Haeger became part owner of the Dundee Brickyard at the best possible time because the company was instrumental in producing tiles and bricks to refurbish Chicago after the Great Fire.

When David passed away in 1900, his son Edmond took over and led the company into production of art pottery and utilitarian dinnerware. This was the beginning of the golden age of pottery that began at the turn of the century and lasted into the early 1960’s. Many great potteries produced all kinds of art and every day pottery pieces such as Roseville, Weller and McCoy.

In 1938 a designer named Royal Hickman joined the company and was responsible for most of the well known and desirable pieces sought after by collectors. This line was known as Royal Haeger. Perhaps one of the most well known pieces made by Royal was the stealthy sleek black panther that was not only a planter but was also seen as a television lamp.

One of the other popular designers that joined the pottery was Eric Olsen who came on board in 1947 and his most popular piece was the bull figurine. This red bull came way before the popular energy drink of the same name!

The amazing thing about Haeger is that the pottery stayed in the family for its entire life and just recently closed. President Alexandra Haeger Estes kept the production line going for as long as she could but had to shut down at it’s 145th anniversary year. The company relied heavily on independent gift shops, florists and furniture stores which had drastically been reduced with the rise of internet shopping and small mom and pop stores going out of business especially after the recession. Cheap foreign imports did not help either.

I hope you will be on the lookout for Haeger, they had such wide variety of styles, wares and colors that there is surely something for everyone! Happy Collecting!

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