28 — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — October 13, 2023

End-Of-The-Day Porcelain
From The Victor Insulator Company
By Justin W. Thomas these hand-thrown and hand-
Originally a part of Bloomfield, sculpted objects were made out of
N.Y., in the Western part of the porcelain.
state, the town of Victor, N.Y., set First-hand accounts from men
off on its own in 1812 and was associated with Lock’s early years
named in honor of Claudius Vic- were published in an article by
tor Boughton, a hero in the War of Arthur S. Watts for the Bulletin of
1812. Aside from the existing pop- the American Ceramic Society,
ulation, settlers from New Eng- October 1939, “Early History Of
land followed, and agriculture The Electrical Porcelain Industry
became the town’s most impor- In The United States.” Watts
tant industry during this early wrote, “My earliest personal
period. But the town’s biggest acquaintance with the porcelain
claim to fame in the Nineteenth insulator industry came about in Late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Centu-
Century may be the Victor Insula- July, 1901, when I accepted a ry end-of-the-day porcelain jardiniere made
tor Company (VIC) that was position with Fred M. Locke, insu- This is another end-of-the-day porcelain at the Victor Insulator Company that I
founded by Fred M. Locke (1861- lator manufacturer at Victor, N.Y. jardiniere from Victor, N.Y., which is recently found in Western New York, which
1930) in 1893, now the oldest During the period of my connec- inscribed with the maker’s initials and an I brought back to the business that is still in
insulator company in North tion with Mr Locke and the Locke inscription. Courtesy of Gene Pratt operation today in Victor, N.Y.
America. Since it was established, Insulator Company, which
VIC only suspended operations extended to 1909, and through my supporting data, and its review was made during the history of Some of the decorative objects
once, during the Great Depres- later associations with several inspired me to undertake such Fred M. Locke or of The Locke that workers made at the end-of-
sion. Production then resumed in other porcelain insulator manu- confirmation as is available.” Insulator Company.” the-day included rustic themed
1935 as Victor Insulators. There facturers, I have repeatedly Watts goes on to describe 11 of The company’s first kiln was a porcelain jardinieres made in the
was also some “end-of-the-day” observed a wide difference of the porcelain insulator companies 9-foot round downdraft kiln with late Nineteenth and early Twenti-
production at this factory in late opinion as to priority in processes operating in America during this a separate stack, built in the eth Centuries. While recently vis-
Nineteenth and Twentieth Cen- and products in this industry…I period, although the largest spring of 1898, and this type of iting Western New York, I found
tury comparable to wares made at started to compile historical mate- amount of information provided kiln with modifications was one of these jardinieres not that
sewer tile factories in places like rial relating to this industry near- about any of the companies and employed exclusively until after far from Victor. Only a small
Rochester, N.Y., Western Pennsyl- ly thirty years ago. My memoran- its workers Focused on the VIC. 1910. Watts wrote that Locke had group of these types of jardinieres
vania and the Midwest, although da, dated about 1908, lacked Locke experimented with trouble with the firing of his first are known to exist from Victor
numerous porcelain and stone- insulators, and he finally took today, most of which are owned
ware bodies and glazes in the them in a basket to the ceramic privately by one New York collec-
early years at Victor. Watts con- industry in Trenton, N.J., where tor. Each pot is a little different
tinued, “According to Walter A. they were fired in a kiln and he with how the hand-sculpted and
Weldon of Baltimore, Md., M. sought expert advice on how to applied exterior appears, as well
Brace, Edward Gouldrich and Van successfully produce his insula- as the color of the glaze, whereas
Bennett of Victor, N.Y., all among tors. The first insulator patent the pot that I discovered is a little
the first employees at Victor, Mr credited to Locke was Number brighter than some of the other
Locke started with a body consist- 402,752 issued May 7, 1889. known examples.
ing of feldspar, flint and English Also, according to Watts, “J.W. Another jardiniere of interest
and Tennessee ball clays. The Ryan, Superintendent, Porcelain was recently discovered in an
glaze consisted of a fusible local Department, Westinghouse Elec- estate in upstate New York; the
clay which gave a light yellow tric & Mfg. Company, Emeryville, pot is decorated with applied
color. Later he attempted to use a Calif, was an early Victor employ- vines, oak leaves and severed
Pennsylvania fire clay with this ee. His recollection is that Mr branches. The base is inscribed
The Victor Insulator Company, circa 1900. Courtesy of Mike local slip clay as a flux. This body Duggan of Imperial Porcelain with the maker’s initials, reading
Spadafora, Paul Greaves, Robin Harrison, Elton Gish and was in production in 1901, but Company developed the first por- what appears to be, “H.A.” There
Fred Locke’s great-grandson, Jim Kimble. before 1902 it was replaced by the celain body used at Victor. Mr is also an inscription below the
typical high feldspar, high ball Ryan points out that before 1902 rim that reads, in part, “Dr G. W.
clay, low china clay and low flint Mr Locke combined a porcelain Mc…” This may have been an
porcelain, typical of electrical por- head and a glass center in many object that was given as a gift or
celain bodies at the present time. of the large insulators of that peri- maybe even traded for some type
The body was prepared by wet od. The yellow glaze from local of goods or services.
grinding in large ball mills, fol- slip clay was soon replaced by While in the area, I decided to
lowed by screen, filter press and Albany slip clay and most of the bring the jardiniere that I found
pug mill. No systematic aging was early production had the latter back to the company’s location.
practiced in the early years. The glaze. The white glaze was intro- The factory has not changed that
large units were made by jigger- duced in 1901 to 1902. Mr Locke much in the last 75 years. The
ing, and the smaller units were organized the Locke Insulator original building where this pot
made by plastic pressing on a Company in 1902 and retired was made still stands, as do all of
revolving plunger press with plas- from the management in 1904. the other buildings that were
ter molds. No dry-pressed ware He was succeeded by John S. added on since the end of the
Lapp, whose records have been Great Depression. A historical
used in compiling this history, marker stands in front of the com-
and was previously President of pany, and there are a number of
Insulators all over the ground surrounding factories at the Lapp Insulator Company, LeRoy, metal and porcelain company
Victor Insulator Company, circa 1900. Victor Insulator N.Y., Mr Lapp’s father was associ- signs that are still in use which
Company, circa 1900. Courtesy: Mike Spadafora, Paul ated with Mr Locke from a much must be approaching 50 to 100
Greaves, Robin Harrison, Elton Gish and Fred Locke’s earlier period.” years old.
great-grandson, Jim Kimble.
A historical marker that stands
outside Victor Insulators.

Victor Insulator Company, circa 1900. Courtesy of Mike Fred M. Locke (1861-1930),
Spadafora, Paul Greaves, Robin Harrison, Elton Gish and founder of the Victor Insula-
Fred Locke’s great-grandson, Jim Kimble. Some original buildings of the Victor Insulator Company. tor Company.