Haeger Pottery

David H. Haeger came to the United States from Germany, founding a small Illinois company in 1871 that took the original name of the Dundee Brickyard for the bricks and tile they made to rebuild Chicago after the great fire as well as other Midwestern cities and towns. However, David Haeger and his son Edmund had aspirations to rise beyond brick making and into a leadership position in the design and production of art pottery in the U.S.

The company first used its skills with clay in the manufacture of bricks to begin making small and simple earthenware pots for wholesale and retail sale. David Haeger died in 1900, but Edmund continued experimenting with ever more sophisticated designs and glazes, changing the name of the company to Haeger Potteries.

The firm began producing artware in 1914, and the contributions of former Fulper employee Martin Stangl to its success is probably incalculable. While Haeger produced a less expensive product than Fulper (by using a lighter clay body and high gloss, low-fire glazes), there is an undeniable similarity between the early products of the two firms.

Haeger vases and figural's often have modeling and glaze quality of great invention and skill. While the Art Deco designs of Royal Hickman have always attracted some attention, the pre-Hickman era Haeger pottery is particularly undervalued, especially the ware designed for the the Arts & Crafts market.

Haeger Timeline:	1871	Company founded by David H. Haeger
	1900	Edmund H. Haeger assumes leadership of company
	1911	Martin Stangl joins the Fulper Pottery as Superintendent of its Technical Division.
	1914	Stangl Employeed by Haeger to develop artware
	1914	Haeger produces first artware (Classic Greek Vase, Design #1)
	1920	Stangl returns to Fulper Pottery as General Manager
	1929	Martin Stangle buys out Fulper and produces Stangle Pottery. A Bronze Green glaze, similar if not identical to an early Haeger glaze, is among those featured.
	1930's	Royal Arden Hickman (1893-1969) begins RaArt Pottery in California.
	1930's	Hickman employed and sent to Europe by the J.H. Vennon Company (of NY) to design crystal produced in Sweden, Demark, Czechoslovkia and Italy
	1938	Hickman employed by Haeger, becomes chief designer for Royal Haeger line.
	1939	The Buckeye Pottery Building in Macomb, Illnois is purchased by the Haeger Company for the manufacture of floral artware.
	1939	Royal Haeger Lamp Company established
	1941	Hickman designs black panther figurine (in three sizes: 18", 24" & 26") for Carson Pirie Scott in Chicago. Extremely popular, the panther design was copied by nearly 30 other potteries.
	1944	Royal Hickman leaves Haeger Potteries.
	1940's	Hickman establishes Royal Hickman Industries, a lamp manufacturer in Chattanooga, TN. The company is sold to the Phil-Mar Lamp Company of Cleveland and renamed Ceramic Arts, Inc.
	1947	Eric Olson becomes Haeger's chief designer.
	1950's	Haeger employs Royal Hickman as a free-lance designer and consultant.
	1954	Joseph F. Estes becomes president of Haeger.
	1954	Elsa Ken Haeger designs Haeger's Royal Garden Flower-ware lline (produced through 1963).
	1971	Sascha Brastoff designs the Esplanade and Roman Bronze lines for Haeger.
	1972	Eric Olson retires from Haeger
	1979	Nicholas Haeger Estes becomes president of The Royal Haeger Lamp Company.
	1979	Alexandra Haeger Estes becomes president of The Haeger Potteries of Dundee.
	1984	C. Glenn Richardson becomes Haeger's Director of Design.

Royal Haeger is still best known for their animals, birds, and other figurines as well as the manifestations of these designs in lamps and lighting. Haeger is probably the best known manufacturer of 1950s TV lamps which have emerged as a major collecting area in themselves. Still a family operation, Alexandra Haeger Estes (Joseph's daughter and great granddaughter of founder David Haeger) became President of Haeger Potteries in 1979.

Much of Haeger's production is unmarked or had paper labels which most often came detached or were removed, so it is not unusual to find unrecognized Haeger pieces at bargain prices through flea markets and estate sales.