Van Briggle
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Located in the old Colorado Midland Roundhouse at 600 S. 21st. St. in Old Colorado City, the Van Briggle Showroom and Kilns are still producing this unique pottery, know the world over during the early 20th century. 
Van Briggle Pottery was a leading style of art pottery in the art and crafts movement of the early 20th century and was especially popular with Art Nouveau collectors.
Artus Van Briggle was born in Ohio in 1869. He studied art and worked at the Avon Pottery Company. He later went to Paris to study art. While there, he became interested in ancient Chinese glazes and when he returned to Ohio, started experimenting with similar glazes.
In 1899, he moved to Colorado Springs as he had contracted Tuberculosis while in Paris. He spent the rest of his life trying to perfect his Chinese Ming Matte glaze. He combined his glaze with the Rocky Mountain clays and began to make beautiful Art Nouveau pieces, some of which won major prizes in Paris and St. Louis.
In 1902, he married Anne after she arrived in Colorado Springs and started teaching art in some of the local schools. Anne became an active partner with Artus Van Briggle and actually started designing some of her own pieces. After Artus died in 1904, she continued to operate the business until 1912, when she sold it and moved to Denver.
The original pottery business at 615-617 N. Nevada was closed in 1907 and with the help of General Palmer, Anne opened Memorial Pottery at Glen and Uintah whos building is now owned by Colorado College. It’s well worth a trip over there as you can still see the beautiful decorative tiles adorning the exterior of the building which were produced by the Memorial Pottery Company. The company moved to its present location in 1955, where its owned and operated by the Stevenson family.
Van Briggle Pottery guides you through how its produced from beginning to the finished product and 
showcases many of the original works made by Artus and Anne. There’s also a wonderful retail store, where you too, can own a piece or two of the Van Briggle unique glazes, still being produced by wonderful master artists trained in the original ways of Artus Van Briggle.
To see even more of these beautiful pieces including the world-famous Lorelei (winner of the famous Paris Expo), head to the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum.
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