Bidspirit auction | Continental Faience & Tile Art

Continental Faience & Tile Art Deco ”Seafoam” Vase - Continental Faience & Tile Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hand-painted Art Deco glazed earthenware ”Seafoam” vase, 1943. Depicting a recumbent nude woman amid a sea of stylized waves, executed in varying blues and brushstrokes. Marked ”Continental Faience, ” dated, and titled along the underside. Lot Essay: The Continental Faience and Tile Company was founded in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1924 by Belgian-born ceramist Carl Bergmans. Seasoned by earlier work at the Mosaic Tile Company and American Encaustic Tile Manufacturing in Ohio, Bergmans established Continental as a producer of hand-crafted architectural ceramics whose geometric, floral, and figural designs appeared in schools, churches, and hotels across much of the eastern United States. Commissions from Milwaukee Public Schools kept the company afloat during the Great Depression, when many competing firms closed for good. In its final years, Bergmans adapted the factory to produce vases and decorative vessels that carried the same rich glazes and careful design sensibility found in his architectural work. When wartime labor shortages led the factory to close in 1943, Continental left a lasting legacy in the walls, floors, and collections of surviving buildings throughout Milwaukee and beyond. Height: 6 1/4 in x diameter: 6 in. Condition: There is deep and toned crazing throughout the glaze. There are no chips or losses. Light wear to the footrim.