The Roseville Pottery Company operated in Zanesville, Ohio, from 1898 to 1954 and was established by George F. Young. By 1900 Young felt ready to enter into the stiffly competitive art pottery market. Roseville’s first art line was called Rozane. Similar to Rookwood’s Standard, Rozane featured dark blended backgrounds with slip-painted underglaze artwork of nature studies, portraits, birds, and animals. During the second decade of the century until the plant closed forty years later, new lines were continually added. The floral lines of the later years have become highly collectible. Pottery from every era of Roseville production, even its utility ware, attests to an unwavering dedication to quality and artistic merit. The market is literally flooded with imposter Roseville that is coming into the country from China. An experienced eye can easily detect these fakes, but to a novice collector, they may pass for old Roseville. Study the marks. If the ‘U.S.A.’ is missing or appears only faintly, the piece is most definitely a reproduction. Also watch for lines with a mark that is not correct for its time frame; for example, Luffa with the script mark, and Woodland with the round Rozane stamp from the 1917 line |
