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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Marshall Studios

In 1922, Mrs. Jessie Marshall opened a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she made hand-painted parchment lampshades. In 1926, her son Nicholas and his wife Grace joined her in the business, and he began making hand-turned wooden lamp bases. During World War II, Marshall Studios, Inc. moved to Veedersburg, Indiana.

In 1951, Nicholas's daughter Jane and her husband Gordon Martz, both recent graduates of Alfred University, the New York State ceramics school, moved to Veedersburg, making her the third generation of the Marshall family to join the business. She and her husband added contemporary stone lamps and accessories to the Marshall Studios line.

In 1953, a Marshall Studios lamp was included in Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.'s Good Design show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the business received coverage in several magazine articles. As the company grew, the accessories line was expanded to include textiles, mosaic furniture and wall decor, as well as dinnerware. In 1964, their dinnerware was featured in the March issue of Interiors magazine.

The company enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s but continued through the 1980s. During that time, a number of other family members joined the business. Most of the pieces produced during that time period were marked Marshalls, although there were other marks. Most ceramic pieces had a matte finish, and walnut was the wood most commonly used.

Jane and Gordon Martz sold their interest and retired in 1989. They moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and continued to produce studio pottery and ceramic sculpture in their retirement.

New owner John Stull changed the name of the company to Genesis Wood and Stoneware in the early 1990s.

From marshallstudios.net
All images from marshallstudios.net, unless noted


Jane and Gordon Martz
commercialartisan.com
Lamp, mosaic wall hanging and mosaic table
Lamp and ceramic vase
Mosaic tables
Mosaic table
Ceramic clock
Platter
Tray
Bowl
Bottles

16 comments:

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    1. I had a feeling that tray would be a reader favorite. I love the clock too!

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  2. Love all these pieces! Those lamps are especially swell with those great shades. Hope I stumble across some of these. I may have to keep for myself!

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    1. I'm a real sucker for lamps. I'd have a whole houseful if I could. There's a lot more likelihood that I'll become a Crazy Lamp Lady than a Crazy Cat Lady in my old age...LOL

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  3. Just love the mosaic tables and the trays!

    Dana, Need help! Want to look at a glass piece in an old post, but can't remember which post! My computer is so slow it takes forever, so maybe you could help me? It was a designer (I think)vase, very heavy solid clear glass, with a colored glass (amber?, not sure)insert like design, which was the vase opening. If you remember, please post here, I'll check back.

    Oops, one more, the large metal wall hangings with the ceramic birds and flowers, which post was that? It's your fault, you have way too many cool posts, LOL! Thanks, Pam

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    1. The birds and flowers sound like Marianne Starck, but I'm drawing a total blank on the vase. If you can remember how long ago it was that I posted about it, maybe I can figure it out. The cased glass that comes to mind is that of Nils Landford or Sven Palmqvist.

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    2. You're very welcome. So glad I could help you find what you were looking for!

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  4. I adore the Martz/Marshall pieces! Always on the lookout during my hunts. My parents have some of the 1980s Marshall lamps in their home and they are as lovely as ever. I'd just love to have one of the inlaid stone mosaic tables! Thanks for the great information Dana.

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    1. I'd love to see photos of your parents' lamps!

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  5. Dana, it's funny that you made this post because, for some odd reason, my Martz/ Marshall Studios post has been seeing a lot of traffic over the past month. Maybe the word is out!

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    Replies
    1. I'm headed to your site to read your post about Marshall Studios.

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  6. Replies
    1. I agree. I'd love to have any of them, but I'm totally in love with the red one.

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