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Maude Robinson
Newcomb College Newcomb Ceramicist
(1880 - 1960)
Maude Robinson was a Newcomb student specializing in pottery decoration, embroidery, and leaded glass. Born November 29, 1880 in Corning, New York, Robinson moved to New Orleans to attend Newcomb College in 1903. Robinson remained at the College through the end of 1908–09 session.
During her time at the Art School, Robinson attended Arthur Dow’s Ipswich summer school three times and distinguished herself in pottery decoration, embroidery, and stained-glass object making, such as fire screens and lampshades. In 1908, Robinson developed a pottery notebook of ceramic recipes similar to those used at Newcomb, experimenting with clay and glaze compatibility and the effects of heavy metals on a glaze formula.
Robinson returned to New York in 1909, and in 1911 became the first director of Greenwich House Pottery on Jones Street in the Village. The ceramics program, part of a settlement house for poor immigrants, was meant to train the residents in a marketable skill.
In 1938 Mary Sheerer wrote of her “Miss Robinson does most skillful and artistic work…, choosing each small piece of glass with a view to its proper color and value in the daylight as well as evening effect."
Maude Robinson died in 1960.
