Tropics
ca. 1875â85
Classification
ceramics
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Paul F. Walter Collection
Accession Number
1999-42-1
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Tropics** *Willets Mfg. Co. (active 1879–ca. 1912), ca. 1875–85* Ceramics, Smithsonian American Art; Gift of the Brooklyn Museum Art, Paul F. Collection Step into the lush allure of the late 19th-century imagination with *Tropics*, a ceramic work from Willets Manufacturing Company, a key player in America's burgeoning pottery industry. Based in Trenton New Jersey—the "Staffordshire of America"—Willets specialized in decorative ceramics during the Gilded Age, blending industrial precision with artistic flair. Produced around 1875–85, this piece likely embodies the era's obsession with ...