Edwin Atlee Barber

Background

Barber was born on October 19, 1871 in Washington D. C. to Charles Gibbs Barber.

Education

He entered Lafayette College in 1869 but left before completing his course and obtained a position as assistant naturalist with the Hayden Survey, in whose ranks many men began a brilliant future. The demands of education led him to return to Lafayette College, where he obtained the degree of B. S. in 1877.

Career

With a flair for archeology, Barber gave most of his attention to the collection of prehistoric relics, which, in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, were rather easy to come at. Archeological work, which was begun by Major Powell in 1869, was still in 1874 in a nascent state, when only preliminary surveys without excavations could be made. Much could be gathered of objects of material culture, as pottery, axes, arrowheads, and the like, weathered out on the sites of ruins. To these objects and especially to the decorated pottery, Barber devoted his attention. The study of ancient Pueblo ceramic art in its infancy was contributed to by him in numerous papers.

Not only archeology, but the ethnology of the Indians of the region interested him, and one of his most valuable papers was on the subject of Ute Indian dialects. In ceramic art in its various branches he never lost interest, becoming finally a leading authority. He prepared many short articles which appeared in the American Naturalist and which embody most of his work with the Hayden Survey.

The lure of ceramics drew him to the curatorship of this branch in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, where he became director in 1907. While there his energy was given mostly to the history and classification of modern ceramics by periods, countries, and style of art. He was easily first in this branch of his subject and his numerous books on ceramics are constantly consulted. A fair proportion of his 200 archeological articles were on this topic. None of them stands out as of major importance, although the whole contribution is regarded as of value to science. Most of his work on Western archeology was new and therefore superior by this feature. His leading works on ceramics are: The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States (1893); Hispano-Moresque Pottery (1915); Maiolica of Mexico (1908). Especially interesting was his rediscovery of the Pennsylvania German tulip ware of the nineteenth century, products of a quaint folk art in which tulips and German mottoes were used in the decoration (Tulip Ware, 1903).

Achievements

• He is remembered as contributor to the American Naturalist and director of Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Lead Glazed Pottery. Part First (Common Clays): Plain Glazed, Sgraffito and Slip-Decorated Wares

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Salt Glazed Stoneware: Germany, Flanders, England and the United States

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Artificial Soft Paste Porcelain, France, Italy, Spain and England

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • The pottery and porcelain of the United States; an historical review of American ceramic art from the earliest times to the present day 1893 Hardcover

    (Lang:- eng, Pages 486. Reprinted in 2013 with the help of...)

  • Tin enamelled pottery maiolica. delft. and other stanniferous fa

Connections

On February 5, 1880, he was married to Nellie Louise Parker.

Father:

William Edwin Barber

Mother:

Anne Eliza (Townsend) Barber

Wife:

Nellie Louise Parker

References

• Biographical Catalogue Of Lafayette College, 1832-1912
• AtLee family history and genealogy