George Ohr

George Edgar Ohr (1857-1918), the self-proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi” was arguably America’s quintessential art potter who foreshadowed the American Abstract-Expressionism art movement. Largely misunderstood during his time, his “art wares” are now relatively rare and highly coveted ceramics on the global market with sales prices of George Ohr pottery for sale at online auctions on Bidsquare consistently exceeding estimations.

About George Ohr

George E. Ohr is considered a pioneer for stoneware ceramics in the United States who changed the legacy of the craft forever. Born in Biloxi, Ohr studied under Joseph Fortune Meyer of Newcomb College Art Pottery, afterward taking a sixteen states tour to familiarize himself with the burgeoning Arts and Crafts movement and the American Renaissance.

After returning to Biloxi, he began his career as a potter, producing functional wares with extreme proficiency to wafer thinness that has proven hard to replicate even today on a modern potter wheel. His virtuosity in throwing pots and his glazes to create delicate, imaginative pots were soon recognized and admired by the ceramic community and critics alike. In form and decoration, many of his vessels feature surreal, metallic glazes —altered shapes that are innovative, imaginative, and required great technical skill — are essentially abstract expressionist objects, the shape of things to come with the movement almost 50 years later.

Although the inventive ceramist’s works were unappreciated at the time of their creation, the artistic acclaim of George Ohr came fifty years after his death. As his artistic vessels resurfaced in the market in the 1950s and ’60s, pottery collectors and art historians began re-evaluating the importance of George Ohr pottery. Today, Ohr has become a cult figure in the arts and crafts world as his pieces are avidly collected and are included in prestigious collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the finest private collections of arts and modern art in the country.

Interesting Facts about George Ohr

He was widely considered as an eccentric whose shop was worth a visit mainly for a laugh. George Ohr predicted that his work would be valued as art by a ater generation that came true after his death.

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