Lodge Profile: History in the Making at Sonora No. 887
In Sonora, a historic lodge gets a facelift—and a new call group to call it home.
Of Castles and Clay
"BEHIND THE TERRA-COTTA TILES OF THE ARTS AND CRAFTS"
By Avril Angevine
Above: Harland Attlesey, kiln foreman at the Batchelder-Wilson Company, brings out a very large statue as owner Ernest A. Batchelder, a member of Corona No. 324, looks on circa 1926.
From the red Spanish-style terra-cotta rooftops of Stanford to the extravagant glazed ceramic wall coverings at Hearst Castle to the mosaic fireplaces of Pasadena, there may be no architectural detail more quintessentially Californian than decorative tile. Beginning with the arts and crafts movement of the early 20th century, California tile has been one of the most celebrated and sought-after expressions of our state’s artistic sensibility—a blending of local materials, natural motifs, and medieval ancestry.
So it should come as no surprise that behind those California art tiles, you’ll find links to Freemasonry. That influence can be seen in two ways.
The first is a matter of inspiration; the second is more direct. Freemasonry, with its historic connection to the building trades, has always attracted architects, craftsmen, and visual artists—among them Ernest Batchelder, the father of California decorative tile. At the same time, Masonry’s esoteric symbology, medieval origins, and humanist teachings have also resonated with artists outside the craft. Certainly that for many of California’s early artists.
Masonry and Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts style came about in reaction to the perceived ugliness of mass-produced consumer objects made possible by the rise of factories in the 18th and 19th centuries. Arts and crafts style stressed simple handmade forms and restrained decoration, often invoking natural themes. More an attitude than a style, arts and crafts promoted a way of life that was honest, contemplative, and spiritual.
By the turn of the 20th century, the movement had blossomed into the first true California-specific art style. Especially in pottery and tile, California artists created beautiful wares that blended reverence for the medieval and mysterious (knights, nymphs, and the like) with materials and moods straight out of the Golden State: redwoods, poppies, Monterey pines, Asian and Spanish design, and the romance of the Franciscan missions. The abundant, varied clays of California ensured that pottery flourished here; right through the Depression, California was the country’s leading producer of terra cotta, with more than 40 companies producing tiles here.
Many of California’s early pottery artists and tile makers, lacking their own professional associations, looked to medieval craft guilds—and Freemasonry in particular—for inspiration.
Among them were two of the state’s most prominent early tile makers: Pasadena’s Ernest Batchelder and Albert Gladding, principal of the Gladding, McBean Co. of Placer County in the Sierra foothills. Batchelder’s tiles appeared in homes and businesses throughout Southern California. In some neighborhoods in L.A., every third house had a Batchelder fireplace, which are still a valuable real estate asset. The company applied a wash of colored slip to the tile surface, which pooled in the recesses of the pressed design. Batchelder prided himself on imbuing his wares with personality, so that there were, as his slogan claimed, “no two tiles the same.”
Above: A former Chocolate shop in Los Angeles, a famous commission of Ernest Batchelder’s.
Born in New Hampshire in 1875, Batchelder moved to Pasadena in 1904 to teach at prestigious Throop Polytechnic (now Cal Tech), which combined liberal arts and sciences with manual arts training. On November 8, 1906, he was raised as a Master Mason in Corona Lodge № 324 in Pasadena (now part of Pasadena № 272). From his bungalow, called the House of the Green Rabbit, he began making tiles, eventually employing 175 workers there.
Among Batchelder’s notable commissions was an over-the-top Dutch chocolate shop in Los Angeles. On its walls were 21 six- by-five-foot bas-relief murals of four-inch tiles depicting life in medieval Holland. An even more ornate example of Batchelder’s ingenuity can be found in the lobby of the Fine Arts Building, on 7th Street in downtown L.A.
Meanwhile, in the foothills, a bit of engineering serendipity led to the creation of one of the state’s longest-running companies, the Gladding, McBean clay works. A road-straightening project in Placer County in 1875 unearthed a rich deposit of kaolin, the rare white clay needed to make the porcelain used in tableware and bathroom fittings. Charles Gladding, a Chicago manufacturer of clay sewer pipes, soon moved to the “clay city” of Lincoln and established one of the largest clay works in the state.
Following his death in 1884, Gladding’s son Albert took control of the firm; around that time, the company began using terra-cotta more artistically, producing fire-resistant architectural facings. (Auburn’s Eureka Masonic Temple features one such example; San Francisco’s 1932 Pac Tel Building has 3,200 tons of Gladding, McBean terra cotta on its exterior.)
By the mid-1890s, the Lincoln plant was crafting tiles in high relief; a decade later, offerings included fireplace surrounds in the finishes suited to the soft, mottled arts and crafts aesthetic. They produced the terra-cotta roof tiles that contribute to the distinctive look at Stanford and Saint Mary’s College. Albert Gladding was also a highly dedicated Freemason.
In 1879, at just 21 years old, he was raised at Gold Hill № 32 (now Penryn Gold Hill № 32). Gladding served in every leadership station in the lodge and was elected master in 1891, ’92, and ’93, and served as treasurer until 1920.
Above: A decorative eagle produced by Gladding, McBean.
Around that time, Gladding, McBean began acquiring other companies and branched into art tiles. When the Depression slowed the market for building materials, the firm moved into tableware. In fact, Gladding, McBean produced the most popular American dinnerware pattern of all time, Franciscan’s Desert Rose, in 1941.
These days, Gladding, McBean has largely shifted to restoration work—as one of only two remaining terra-cotta producers, the company figures to have plenty of work. And because it is natural and recyclable, and doesn’t emit microparticles like PVC pipe does, terra-cotta sewer pipes now account for half of Gladding McBean’s output.
Today, with the revival of interest in the arts and crafts movement, including a current display of California decorative tile at the San Francisco Airport art museum, an important if largely overlooked connection between the Masonic craft and the artisanal craft remains, preserved in clay.
Photos by:
California State Library
Wikimedia
Pasadena Museum of History
Los Angeles Public Library
More from this issue:
Member Profile: Hector Marroquin, Napa Valley No. 93
Hector Marroquin of Napa Valley No. 93 on why bringing family into the lodge isn’t just doable, but adds to the Masonic experience.
Is the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum Connected to Masonry?
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose is a testament to a curious fraternal relative of Freemasonry.