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Clay

The confluence of the three largest rivers in North America endowed eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois with some of the richest clay deposits in the United States. Artists and entrepreneurs alike established businesses tied to the area’s numerous varieties of clay. Surface or earthenware clay, found on the floodplains of rivers or lake basins, is ideal for making brick and terra-cotta, while beds of kaolin supported porcelain production. As a result, clay objects—whether for personal use or sale—have contributed to the identity of the confluence region for centuries.

Looking Prompts

  • Look closely at these objects. Pay special attention to visual details that might provide clues into the materials from which they were made and the process for creating them. What did you discover?
  • Drawing is a great way to discover more as you look at a work of art. Create a contour line drawing of one of these bricks. A contour line drawing is a continuous line where your pencil is touching the paper at all times. Let your hand and eyes follow the shapes, lines, and details of the brick. For an extra challenge, try to draw while only looking at the brick and not at your piece of paper. See if you can keep from peeking at your page. What more did you discover as you drew?

Drawing Extension

  • These bricks incorporated symbols of value for residents in the city of St. Louis, such as the fleur-de-lis, which illustrates St. Louis’s historical ties with France. Imagine you are a brick designer. What is a symbol that you would include in your brick to illustrate something meaningful for you? Draw a design of your brick. You might even want to draw a few different designs to create a collection of bricks.

 

  • By 1900 St. Louis had become the largest brick-making city in the world, shipping bricks across the United States and overseas. The industry’s growth and dominance owed most to the Hydraulic Press Brick Company, which had become the world’s largest manufacturer of pressed brick by 1890. Founded in 1868, the company exemplified larger trends of industrialization that swept the nation following the Civil War, in which handmade products were transformed by innovative technologies, such as the company’s patented machine that used hydraulic pressure to produce uniformly sized and densely compacted bricks. As buildings grew taller, thanks to the introduction of iron and steel skeleton frames, the preference for stone facades (the exterior or front side of a building that may include a decorative pattern or special material such as stone) diminished. Architects and clients instead embraced walls of fine-pressed face brick—often combined with those in a variety of ornamental patterns, such as a star or fleur-de-lis—which offered a greater variety of designs at a lower price and with superior fireproofing qualities. In the early 1870s the Eads Bridge and its railroad tunnel were among the first prominent St. Louis structures to use a large quantity of Hydraulic Press brick. By 1929 the company’s bricks could be found on 100s of buildings across the country, including the Chrysler Building (New York City), Navy Pier (Chicago), and the Saint Louis Art Museum’s own Sculpture Hall.

 

Looking Prompts

  • List as many adjectives as you can think of to describe this artwork. Choose six to eight adjectives from your list and compose a poem.
  • Imagine a setting for this work of art. Draw a picture of it in that environment.
  • Consider the scale of this stoneware vessel. How big do you imagine it is? What do you see that makes you say that? In what ways might your experience of the vessel change if it were a different size? Imagine if you could hold it in your hand. Imagine if it were as tall as you. (See image credit for actual size.)

  • This large vessel resembles a water tower with a drum-shaped reservoir rising from a narrow column. Its surface was blackened by exposure to smoke and then sandblasted to bring out different colors and textures, reminiscent of decaying buildings.

    The brick-making and architectural terra-cotta industries in the confluence region diminished in the 20th century. Regional artists, however, continue to work with clay. Based in Edwardsville, Illinois, Dan Anderson creates sculptures such as European Water Tank that express his interest in the architectural presence of industrial structures in the environment.

  • Image Credits in Order of Appearance

    (left) made by Hydraulic Press Brick Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 1868–1972; Brick with Star Motif, c.1890; dry-pressed brick clay; 5 x 5 x 2 1/4 inches; (right) made by Hydraulic Press Brick Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 1868–1972; Brick with Fleur-de-Lis Motif, c.1890; dry-pressed brick clay; 7 x 7 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches; National Building Arts Center 2021.13,.15

    Dan Anderson, American, born 1945; European Water Tank, 1996; stoneware; 28 x 18 1/2 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Thomas Alexander and Laura Rogers 1121:2010a,b; © Dan Anderson