CALIFORNIA POTTERY INDEX - VINTAGE CALIFORNIA POTTERY, DINNERWARE, CERAMICS, FIGURINES - INCLUDING BARBARA WILLIS POTTERY

Barbara Willis Pottery

Barbara Willis studied ceramics at UCLA and after graduating in 1940 opened a small studio behind the family home in Los Angeles. By 1942 Barbara Willis was producing her "Terrene Pottery," mostly vases and flower bowls, for the local florist trade. Her pottery was distinctive for its brightly colored crackle glaze which usually coated the interior and only part of the exterior of the piece. The remainder of the item would remain earthy clay, usually tooled.
Early colors used by Barbara Willis were turquoise, yellow, chartreuse and white. Later she would incorporate coral and bright red. Besides the florist items, early Barbara Willis pieces included cigarette boxes, ashtrays, candle holders, wall pockets, salt and pepper shakers and some figural items. By the late forties success had necessitated the move to a larger plant in North Hollywood, but production was small enough that each piece passed through Barbara Willis' hands.
Some decaled housewares were produced in the early 1950s but the undecorated pieces remained the most popular. Also in the 1950s the flood of cheap imports hurt all the California potters. That and representation problems convinced Barbara Willis to quit the ceramics business in 1958. Some of her molds were sold to The California Cleminsons who used them to anchor a new line of modern housewares. Barbara Willis followed other pursuits for the next 40 years, but in the late 1990s again began working in clay. Ms. Willis died in 2011 at the age of 94.

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