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Fiesta dinnerware

Fiesta dinnerware in its many colours, on display. Photo lostinmiami (Flickr), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fiesta dinnerware

13 traced influences · 5 sources

dig Fiesta dinnerware

What it took directly

  1. documentedFiesta dinnerware took from Frederick Rhead, the English potter Homer Laughlin hired in the late 1920s"In the late 20's, the company hired the noted English potter Frederick Rhead." Kelly Alexander, The New York Times (2002)
  2. documentedFiesta red took from uranium oxide, added to the glaze"The red color was achieved by adding uranium oxide in the glaze—measurements have indicated that by weight, up to 14% of the glaze might be uranium." Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity (orau.org)
  3. statedFiesta's 90th-anniversary lavender took from the calm of purple in nature"“We chose lavender as our 90th-anniversary color to reflect the peacefulness and tranquility of purple in nature,” says the company’s marketing director, Maggie McIlvain Kuntz." Maggie McIlvain Kuntz, Fiesta's marketing director, to Ann Trieger Kurland, The Boston Globe (2026)

What it learned to do

  1. documentedFiesta's concentric rings learned from the look of pottery thrown on a wheel and fired by hand in a kiln"He eventually came up with Fiestaware's pattern of concentric circles, imprinted on every item, that gives pieces the look of having been handcrafted on a pottery wheel and then hand-fired in a kiln." Kelly Alexander, The New York Times (2002)
  2. statedFiesta dinnerware learned from Rhead's conviction that ordinary buyers like to mix their colours"Most of all, the new dishware seemed relaxed and fun. “The layman,” Rhead said, “likes to mix his colors.”" Frederick Rhead, quoted by Wayne Curtis, American Heritage (2004)
  3. documentedFiesta dinnerware learned from Depression-era budgets: sold one piece at a time instead of as a costly set"A large part of the appeal was that the plates, cups, bowls and accessories could be bought one item at a time, rather than as a costly set. This practical, frugal method resonated with families struggling in the Great Depression." Virginia Kopas Joe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2011)
  4. statedFiesta's colour rotation learned from home decor and the fashion runways"David Conley, Homer Laughlin's director of retail sales and marketing, says that rotating the available colors insures that the brand features a few hues that are attracting notice in home decor and some that come straight off fashion runways." David Conley of Homer Laughlin, as reported by Kelly Alexander, The New York Times (2002)

The tradition it sits in

  1. documentedFiesta dinnerware comes from the streamlined style of Art Deco, crossed with the look of handmade pottery"After experimenting with various shapes and glazes, Rhead combined the streamlined style of Art Deco with the look of handmade pottery and glazed his new designs with solid, vibrant colors." Wayne Curtis, American Heritage (2004)
  2. documentedFiesta dinnerware answered the English tradition of all-white china"But Rhead's stroke of genius came when he decided to glaze his china in brilliant color -- a departure from the English all-white tradition." Kelly Alexander, The New York Times (2002)
  3. statedFiesta's palette comes from the festivals of Mexico, as the company's own advertising told it"Advertisements claimed that the hues were inspired by “the colorful festivals of Mexico.”" Homer Laughlin's advertisements, as reported by Wayne Curtis, American Heritage (2004)
  4. inferredFiesta red comes from a uranium-red glaze practice shared with other coloured wares of its era (Harlequin, Vistosa, Franciscanware)"Almost any antique ceramic with a deep orange/red color is likely to be radioactive, e.g., Caliente, Early California, Franciscanware, Harlequin, Poppytrail, Edwin M. Knowles, and Vistosa." inferred — the museum lists these wares together as uranium-red; it does not say which pottery took the glaze from which

Where the whole form comes from

  1. documentedHomer Laughlin China comes from the pottery Homer Laughlin and his brother Shakespeare started in East Liverpool in 1871"Perhaps the most prominent name during the late-nineteenth-century ceramics boom was Homer Laughlin. With his brother, Shakespeare (they had literate parents, evidently), Laughlin launched a pottery company in East Liverpool in 1871." Wayne Curtis, American Heritage (2004)
  2. documentedFiesta dinnerware comes from East Liverpool's pottery trade, which began with honey-and-mustard yellowware in the 1840s"By the early 1840s East Liverpool had become known for its yellowware, a sort of rustic pottery that when fired in a kiln produced a hue somewhere between honey and mustard." Wayne Curtis, American Heritage (2004)

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