Van Briggle Pottery · Colorado Springs · Established 1901
Glaze reference

Van Briggle Pottery

A guide to the velvety matte blues, mulberries, greens, whites, and later gloss glazes that changed across more than a century of production.

The pottery

Color, surface, and sculptural form.

After working at Rookwood, Artus Van Briggle established his pottery in Colorado Springs and pursued softly modeled Art Nouveau forms with low-gloss, tactile glazes. Anne Van Briggle, an artist and designer in her own right, continued the enterprise after Artus died in 1904.

Van Briggle glaze color is rarely perfectly uniform. Early pieces may combine colors, expose clay on relief, or show overspray and firing variation that later production does not repeat exactly.

Glaze families

What collectors look for

Early 1900s–1910s

Experimental greens

Light and deep matte greens, sometimes with contrasting overspray or exposed clay across raised decoration. Early formulas can vary noticeably from piece to piece.

c. 1904 and early period

Blue on Blue

Layered blue glazes create depth and movement. The upper color helped anticipate the longer-lived Ming Blue family.

Early 1900s

Gold-Brown

Warm matte brown with natural tonal variation caused by application and firing.

Teens period

Plum

Deep purple to plum tones that can sit close to Mulberry. The boundary between collector names is not always sharp.

c. 1906 onward

Ming Blue / Ming Turquoise

The signature turquoise-to-blue matte family. Early examples often have layered color and visible variation; 1930s–40s pieces commonly darken at the top and fade toward the base; late-century examples are often more uniform.

1903–early 1940s

Mulberry

A changing family of maroon, purple, rose, blue, and green effects. Classic 1920s Mulberry can be especially dark and rich, while late-1920s examples may carry blue overspray.

1946–1968; later revivals

Persian Rose

Introduced in 1946. Earliest examples can be dark enough to be mistaken for Mulberry; the familiar rose tone stabilized later. It was discontinued in 1968 and subsequently revived.

Early 1900s–teens

Ivory and early whites

Early ivory can shade toward violet near the base. Teens-period white treatments often include colored overspray and more variation than later opaque whites.

1946 onward

Moonglo

An opaque white introduced in 1946 and later reformulated for better coverage over darker clay. Iceberg and Moonglo Mist are blue-accented 1980s relatives.

1950s–1960s; 1987–89 revival

Honey Gold

A glossy mid-century glaze connected with Van Briggle’s Dryden-era production, sometimes paired with white or green drips. The name returned briefly in the late 1980s.

1950s–1960s

Lake Trout Green

A glossy green from the same mid-century design chapter as Honey Gold, distinctly different from the classic matte greens.

1980s onward

Celadon and Cobalt Blue

Long-running gloss glazes: soft green Celadon and a deeper reflective blue that should not be confused with matte Ming Blue.

1982–1989

Desert Rose, Dusty Rose, and Jade

Shorter-lived late-century colors. Desert Rose and Dusty Rose overlap visually with Persian Rose; Jade can closely resemble Celadon.

1983–1988

Midnight, Iceberg, and Moonglo Mist

Short-run dark and blue-white treatments. Iceberg pools blue in recesses; Moonglo Mist places blue overspray on higher relief.

1999 onward

Lilac Blue

A modern blue-purple glaze introduced at the end of the twentieth century.

2000s onward

Plum, Aspen Sunrise, and Vintage Green

Modern glazes that deliberately reconnect with early Van Briggle color families: purple, warm sunrise tones, and historic-looking matte green.

Van Briggle at Dime’s

Browse current pieces.

The glaze guide remains available whether or not a matching example is currently for sale.

Shop Van Briggle →