Hugh C. Robertson, was an American studio potter who is the first recognized potter to have worked with nonrepresentational ceramic decoration glazes. Robertson apprenticed at the Jersey City Potter in 1860. In 1868, he started work in his father's shop that opened in 1866 in Chelsea, Massachusetts

Chelsea, Massachusetts

Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...

. In 1872 the factory was incorporated into the Chelsea Keramic Art Works (CKAW). The company became known for their antique Grecian terra cotta

Terra cotta

Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...

 and Pompeian bronzes. In 1877, Robertson developed the Chelsea faience

Faience

Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...

, underglazed

Ceramic glaze

Glaze is a layer or coating of a vitreous substance which has been fired to fuse to a ceramic object to color, decorate, strengthen or waterproof it.-Use:...

 opaque earthenware

Earthenware

Earthenware is a common ceramic material, which is used extensively for pottery tableware and decorative objects.-Types of earthenware:Although body formulations vary between countries and even between individual makers, a generic composition is 25% ball clay, 28% kaolin, 32% quartz, and 15%...

, which lead the development of other American faience. There in 1884, Robertson worked on discovering the secret Chinese glaze, Sang-de-Boeuf

Ruskin Pottery

The Ruskin Pottery was an English pottery studio founded in 1898 by Edward R. Taylor, the first Principal of Birmingham School of Art, to be run by his son, William Howson Taylor, formerly a student there. It was named after the artist, writer and social thinker John Ruskin, as the Taylors agreed...

. In 1888, he finally discovered the recipe for the glaze and produced three hundred pieces of what he dubbed, Sang de Chelses.

The Arts and Crafts, and the Art Pottery Movement owes much to Hugh Robertson - After years of experimentation, and eventual artistic success, Hugh Robertson exhausted the finances of the Chelsea Keramic Art Works and the studio closed in 1889. He did not return to the pottery world until July 17, 1891 when he established Chelsea Pottery, US in Dedham, Massachusetts

Dedham, Massachusetts

Dedham is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest by Westwood and on the southeast by...

 Robertson later went on to success in 1895, with the Dedham Pottery

Dedham Pottery

Dedham Pottery was a pottery company opened by the Robertson Family in Dedham, Massachusetts during the American arts & crafts movement that operated between 1896 and 1943. It was known for its high-fire stoneware characterized by a controlled and very fine crackle glaze with thick cobalt boarder...

Company, in good part based on his glaze success’ at the Chelsea Keramic Art Works.