Early Halloween decorations were more artistic than frightening

Halloween decorations today include jack-o-lanterns, black cats, spiders, bats, ghosts, vampires, witches and other spooky, scary things. But in past years, many of these creatures were not threatening. In the early days of Rookwood Pottery, an art pottery in Cincinnati (1880-1960), several decorators included bats, spiders and spider webs in the hand-painted scenes on vases and bowls. Maria Longworth Nichols, Albert Robert Valentien, Laura Fry, Matthew Daly and Josephine Zettel were decorators who made similar pieces featuring bats and spiders in the late 1800s. They marked pieces with their initials as well as the word "Rookwood." Their designs were influenced by the Japanese pottery shown at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia. Spider designs continued to be popular until as late as 1946, when Kay Ley created a vase covered in spiders and spider webs. Bats and spiders were not part of Halloween decorations until the 1920s and did not become popular features of collectibles until the 1970s. Today we might not choose a flower vase for the dinner table that included "bugs," but in Victorian times the little creatures were considered lucky, not frightening.

By TERRY KOVEL, Kovels' Antiques and Collecting

October 26, 2012