McLaughlin Family Papers (CAA/41)

Biographical/Historical Notes

Mary Louise McLaughlin

Mary Louise McLaughlin was a significant figure in the American Arts and Crafts movement. She was a ceramic artist, wood carver, painter, etcher, metalworker, art theorist, and author. McLaughlin was born in Cincinnati on September 29, 1847, the youngest child and only daughter of William McLaughlin (1806-1881) and Mary A. Robinson (1792-1874). She attended the McMicken School of Design (1873-77), where she was a member of the wood carving department, under the supervision of Benn Pitman. In 1874, she was invited along with the other members of Pitman’s class to take private lessons in china painting. It was here that she received minimal instruction from Marie Eggers. McLaughlin went on to write The China Painter’s Handbook, which was published in 1917.

In 1876, she exhibited twenty-eight pieces of decorated china at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. She was inspired by the underglaze slip decorated ware displayed at the exposition by Haviland & Co. and attempted to recreate their secret process. In September 1877, she began to experiment at P.L Coultry Pottery (Dayton Street) and produced the first example of Cincinnati faience a month later. McLaughlin’s faience was first publicly displayed in 1878 at the Loan Collection Exhibition, prepared by the Women’s Art Museum Association of Cincinnati. A few of her faience vases were also included in the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, France (May 1-November 10, 1878.) The process was later adopted by Rookwood Pottery and other art potteries in the United States.

On April 1, 1879, the Cincinnati Pottery Club was formed, and McLaughlin was elected their president. In the early days, the club worked out of a room that was rented from the Women’s Art Museum Association, but they still fired their wares at Coultry. In the fall of 1879, they moved to Dallas Pottery on Hamilton Road. The first examples of their work produced at Dallas Pottery were shown at the Seventh Cincinnati Industrial Exposition in 1879. McLaughlin’s book Pottery Decoration under the Glaze was published in 1880. Following the death of Frederick Dallas on June 9, 1881, the Pottery Club began to rent a room at Rookwood Pottery from Maria Longworth Nichols Storer. The club was eventually evicted from Rookwood in 1882, and later disbanded in 1890. They were asked to reunite once more, to present an exhibition of their ceramics in the Women’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition (May 1-October 30, 1893).

Beginning in 1885, McLaughlin put aside working with wet clay for about ten years. She displayed some decorated metal vases and plaques at the 1889 French Exposition Universelle (May 6-October 31, 1889) and was awarded a silver medal. On November 1, 1890, she took the first painting class offered by Frank Duveneck at the Cincinnati Art Museum. In November 1892, she had her first solo show at Frederick Keppel & Co. in New York. The exhibition showed her versatility, by displaying her oil paintings, watercolors, woodcarvings, etchings, dry points, etched decoration on metal, as well as her art pottery.

In early 1898 she started working with clay again. After many trials, she began to successfully produce porcelain, which she called “Losantiware” (after an early name for Cincinnati) in a kiln she had at home. She first exhibited it in 1900, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (April 5-November 12, 1900).

She became an honorary member of the American Ceramic Society in 1938.

On January 16, 1939, she died of a heart attack in her Madisonville home. She is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. Bibliography:

Ellis, Anita J. The Ceramic Career of M. Louise McLaughlin. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press [for] Cincinnati Art Museum, 2003.

Ellis, Anita. “Louise McLaughlin’s Porcelain.” The Sudio Potter 20, 1 (December 1991): 30-32.

Evans, Paul. “Cincinnati Faience: an overall perspective.” Spinning Wheel 28 (September 1972): 16-18.

“Work by a Talented Lady.” New York Times, October 27, 1892.

“Fame as Ceramic Artist Lingers.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 29, 1937.

“Famed Artist Never Left House, or Climbed Stair, in 19 Years.” Times-Star, January 17, 1939.

“Miss McLaughlin, China Painter, 91.” New York Times, January 18, 1939.

“Cincinnati First Ceramic Artist.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 19, 1939.

“Neighbors’ Objections to Kiln Fumes.” Times-Star, January 27, 1939.

“McLaughlin Exhibit.” Times-Star, September 12, 1941.

James W. McLaughlin

James W. McLaughlin was an American architect, credited with designing several notable buildings in Cincinnati, including the Art Museum, the original Art Academy, and the Shillito Company Building. Unfortunately, many of his architectural contributions have since been torn down or rendered unrecognizable by modern updates.

He was born in Cincinnati on November 1, 1834, the third son of Mary A. Robinson (1806-1881) and William McLaughlin (1792-1874), a partner in a dry –goods store. His brother William (1828-1831) died in infancy and his brother George (1831-1893) was a sculptor, attorney, and President of the Firemen’s Insurance Company. His younger sister Mary Louise (1847-1939) was a talented ceramic artist.

He received a public school education and later became a student of James Keyes Wilson, the leading Cincinnati architect of the day. In 1857, McLaughlin became the partner of English born architect, John R. Hamilton. Together they designed the Gothic style Masonic Temple, which was completed in 1859. It was later replaced by the current Masonic Temple, designed by Harry Hake and Charles Kuck, completed in 1928.

During the Civil War, McLaughlin served in the Union army, as a lieutenant in General John C. Fremont’s Infantry body guard. He also worked as a special artist for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper and provided a sketch of the Confederate surrender at Tiptonville, Tennessee. When he returned from the war, he married Olive Amelia Barbe (1842-1928) on September 27, 1862. They went on to have nine children.

He helped to organize the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1870, and later served as President (1878-1882 and 1889-1893.) In 1870, his Italianate style Cincinnati Gas, Coke & Light Co. building (now adapted for apartments) on Fourth and Plum Street, was completed. McLaughlin designed the “Old Main” Public Library building, located at 629 Vine Street, between 6th and 7th Street, which opened in 1874. The building was said to be one of the most magnificent public libraries in the country, but it was later demolished in 1955, when the library moved to a new location a block away. He is also responsible for the original buildings at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens (1874-1875.) The Moorish revival style monkey house (now the Reptile House) and one of the Japanese pagoda-style aviaries (now the Passenger Pigeon monument) still exist today.

In 1884, he was involved in the rebuilding the Hamilton County Courthouse, after the previous one was destroyed by a riot and fire. The courthouse he designed, was eventually demolished and replaced in 1919, by one designed by the architects Rankin, Kellogg, and Crane. McLaughlin designed the Cincinnati Art Museum, located in Eden Park. The Romanesque Revival style museum opened its doors in 1886. He also designed the adjacent Art Academy of Cincinnati Building (1885-1888.)

He was a founding member of the Cincinnati Art Club, which formed in 1890. During this year, he also designed a building for the Young Men’s Christian Association. The building eventually became the Shubert Theatre, which was later demolished. He designed the Wayne County Court House in Richmond, Indiana, which was completed in 1893. He was also the chief architect for the Ohio State Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.

As Dean of Cincinnati Architects, McLaughlin trained a number of Cincinnati’s leading late-nineteenth century architects. McLaughlin formed a partnership with James Gilmore in 1903, under the firm name McLaughlin and Gilmore. Their partnership was later dissolved in 1906. In 1912, he moved to New York, where he died on March 4, 1923. He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Bibliography:

Greve, Charles Theodore. Centennial History of Cincinnati and Representative Citizens. Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co., 1904

Haverstock, Mary Sayre. Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: a biographical dictionary. Kent, Ohio: Kent State Universtiy Press, 2000.

Painter, Sue Ann. Architecture in Cincinnati: an illustrated history of designing and building an American City. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press in association with the Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati, 2006.

History of the Cincinnati Art Club. [Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati Art Club, 1972?]

Kraft, Joy W. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2010.

“Incidents of the War. Taking it Coolly.” Frank Leslie’s Illustrated newspaper, May 3, 1862.

Butler, E.S. “The Cincinnati Art Club.” Brush and Pencil 6, 2 (May 1900): 72-79.

“Mosaics.” The Inland Architect and News Record 42, 5 (December 1903):40

Langsam, Walter. “James W. McLaughlin.” Architecture Foundation of Cincinnati: Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Artists, 1788-1940.

https://www.architecturecincy.org/programs/biographical-dictionary-of-cincinnati-architects/m/

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of Mary Louise McLaughlin’s papers, which includes correspondence, inventories of her work, some artwork, books, death and estate records, as well as several partial and complete manuscripts on art, ceramics, politics, world history, and cookery. James McLaughlin’s papers are comprised of his papers and correspondence, both general and relating to the building of the Art Museum. The papers of other McLaughlin family members include early family documents, such as William McLaughlin’s correspondence and estate records.

James McLaughlin and Olive Amelia Barbe’s daughter, Bertha Amelia McLaughlin (1867-1954) married Robert Wentworth Gates (1860-1925) on September 1, 1886. Therefore, the collection also contains papers belonging to the Gates family. The collection includes photographs of Mary Louise McLaughlin, her work, the interior and exterior of her home, and her pet parrot “Teddy.” It contains photographs of James McLaughlin, his wife, and their nine children. It also has albums and photographs of the Gates family, and photographs of other individuals, both related and unrelated to the McLaughlins.

Arrangement

Conditions Governing Access

Whilst the archives aims to provide access to the records in its care to the fullest extent possible, it reserves the right to restrict access for any reason. Please see the archives’ Access Policy for further information: www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/visit/library-archives/the-archives/

Preferred Citation note

Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

These papers were donated at different times by descendants or associates of the McLaughlin family.

Detailed List of Collection

Custodial History note

Originally located in locked case as NK4027C5M2, moved to Archives as CAA/1/5 on 06/14/2012; moved to CAA/41 09/10/2019.