The painted porcelain and pottery craze of the late 1800s

The painted porcelain and pottery craze of the late 1800s is on display at the Parkway Central Library now through Monday, November 30, 2026. It's held in the Art Department, which is inside the library at 1901 Vine Street, between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway.

The exhibition looks at how the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial spurred an American interest in decorating porcelain and pottery—a craze that took hold across the country in the late 1800s. It's a local story in a very literal sense: the spark came from a fair held right here in Philadelphia, and the resulting trend turned a lot of ordinary people into amateur decorators.

What you'll see on display are periodicals and books printed at the time, many of them sharing the painting techniques and designs that were aimed at these home decorators. Alongside those are books showing decorated pottery from Japan and China, the kinds of pieces that were fueling the interest in the first place. It's a look at the instructional side of the craze—the how-to guides and the inspiration that sat on people's tables while they worked on their own pieces.

If you're into Philadelphia history or the history of craft, it's a good one to catch. The show runs through Monday, November 30, 2026, closing at 12 PM that day.