At the turn of the 20th century, Adelaide Alsop Robineau broke the norms of society by learning to throw on the potter’s wheel, a type of work normally restricted to men. Not only did she master that art but chose to work with the difficult medium of porcelain. Works from her simple Syracuse, New York, studio rivaled the excellence of Sèvres, the village in France renowned for its production of fine porcelain for French royalty. In his lecture, art historian Martin Eidelberg will discuss the career and legacy of this remarkable ceramic artist.

Aware of the latest European Art Nouveau designs, Robineau skillfully carved masterpieces that were highly praised throughout the United States and Europe. Together with her husband, Samuel E. Robineau, she published the influential design magazine Keramic Studio and was a mentor and role model to aspiring women ceramists across the country.

A prize-winning author of books and articles on the decorative arts, Dr. Eidelberg is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Rutgers University, where he taught for 38 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Most recently, Dr. Eidelberg was co-author of American Art Pottery: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018).

He is well known for his studies on Tiffany glass, ceramics, and lamps. Dr. Eidelberg is the co-author of Masterworks of Louis Comfort Tiffany (London and New York: Thames and Hudson and Harry N. Abrams, 1998) and Behind the Scenes of Tiffany Glassmaking: The Nash Notebooks (New York and London: St. Martin’s Press, 2001). His Tiffany scholarship also includes The Lamps of Louis C. Tiffany (New York: Vendome Press, 2005); Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest of Beauty (New York: Lillian Nassau LLC, 2007); A New Light on Tiffany, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls (London: GILES in association with the New-York Historical Society, 2007); and Tiffany Favrile Pottery and the Quest of Beauty (New York: Lillian Nassau, 2010).