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Museum of Ceramics receives rare Lotus Ware

EAST LIVERPOOL — For the second time this spring, the Museum of Ceramics in downtown East Liverpool is the recipient of another noteworthy donation.

Local pottery enthusiasts Marc and Cindy Hoffrichter have donated a rare Lotus Ware ewer to the Museum of Ceramics Foundation.

Marc Hoffrichter presented a lecture on President William McKinley at the museum’s first “MoC Talk” in May, and at the conclusion of the talk, the Hoffrichters presented the ewer to Susan Weaver, museum director.

Lotus ware is rare and valuable, according to officials. It was made by Knowles, Taylor & Knowles, the city of East Liverpool’s largest pottery, for a few years in the 1890s.

“Considered the nation’s finest bone china, Lotus Ware is the highest artistic achievement in the history of East Liverpool,” Weaver explained. “This ewer is exceptionally valuable because of the unusual decal of President McKinley on it.”

The ewer, Weaver said, will be placed on permanent display within the museum. The piece had been featured in the museum’s temporary exhibit, “The Story of Lotus Ware,” but now will become part of the permanent collection.

In May, avid collectors and authors Bill and Donna Gray made a donation to the East Liverpool Historical Society for exhibition at the museum — a rare Harker Taylor inkwell.

“It’s unusual to get two pieces like this is a row,” Weaver said. “We go years (decades) without seeing this kind of stuff.”

The museum is located at Broadway and East Fourth streets in downtown East Liverpool.

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