Teco Pottery

Some History

In 1881 the American Terra Cotta Tile and Ceramics Company was founded by William Day Gates, in Terra Cotta, Illinois.  Their primary aim was to produce fireproof (this was shortly after the Chicago fire) building materials such as drain tiles, brick, chimney tops, finials, etc.  Through experimentation with different clays and glazes, Day began to envision making a line of art pottery.  This led to the introduction of Teco Pottery (Terra Cotta) in 1902.  The wares that were produced reflected the Prairie School style popularized by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright.  By 1919 the business had purchased an Indianapolis plant and branch in Minnesota.  The Great Depression took it's toll on the company and production crawled until 1941.  Although it is not exactly known when the last piece of art pottery was made or sold, the latest dated works were from around 1923.

Examples of Work

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General Information and Websites

Since there were only about 21 years in which Teco pottery was made, it is rare and quite valuable.  As always, be aware of fakes and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!  Prairie Arts has released a modern day reproduction line of Teco pottery.  (marked as such)  Don't get the new pieces confused with originals.

You may want to bookmark this site, as the links below will take you elsewhere...

An Original Catalog (.pdf)

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Art Pottery Blog

PBS