When the Grueby Faience Company began making arts and crafts tiles and other art pottery forms, they redefined an entire genre. Their iconic watermellon-green matte glaze took the world by storm, inspiring so many imitators such as Roseville Pottery and Weller Pottery that they eventually were driven to bankruptcy. During their brief time as manufacturers they left a legacy that is inspiring potters even today.

In 1894, the company was created in Revere, Massachusetts, by William Henry Grueby. Grueby was an experienced potter and was inspired by the matte glazes and the simple forms of ceramics he had seen at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. In its early years, Grueby focused on replicating classic architectural faience tiles from artists such as Donatello and Della Robbia. In 1897, Grueby teamed up with George Prentiss Kendrick, who designed the simple organic vase shapes the company would later be known for. Unlike other companies at the time, Grueby focused exclusively on vases and other pottery in the arts and crafts style, culminating in the creation of their famous matte green glaze.

Aside from Rookwood Pottery, no American pottery company won more accolades at world expositions than the vases of the Grueby Pottery company, including the Grand Prize in Paris in 1900.

Grueby's success quickly inspired mass-market competition from larger and more established potteries. The small company remained true to their arts and crafts roots, hand-making each piece and charging high prices for the crafted pieces. Other companies used mechanical assembly-line techniques to market inferior pieces at less than 1/100th of the price, flooding the market with cheaper facsimiles of Grueby's work. This drove Grueby Faience and Pottery into bankruptcy in 1909. Grueby somehow survived the bankruptcy and began the business of producing their tiles, vases, statues, and lamp vases, although on a very limited basis until 1911. The pottery burned to the ground in 1913, but the company completely rebuilt their plant on the same site. Without the funds to continue production, in 1917 the C. Pardee Works in Perth Amboy, New Jersey purchased the company from William. William continued supervising the Grueby brand at Pardee as chief designer. Unfortunately, the competition remained fierce, and public tastes began shifting from the arts and crafts styles as the nascent Art Deco movement was being born. The Grueby brand ended for all intents with the death of William Grueby in 1925.

Today we find that vintage and antique Grueby pottery can be among the most expensive of the arts and crafts ceramics at auctions. Many collectors revere the simple organic forms and subtle glaze variations. As a smaller company, their production numbers and distribution were quite low when compared with the major producers of the time, making the quantities available on the market today quite limited.

The style and glazes of Grueby Pottery inspired many imitators at the time, including Teco, Bauer, Rookwood, Roseville, and Weller. Even today smaller studios and potters reach back to the creations of these pioneers for inspiration. The work of Grueby can still be seen reflected in many of the works of contemporary artists across the world.