Theaster Gates Buys America’s Last Luxury Porcelain Maker

How the Chicago artist plans to bring new life to Pickard China’s century-old porcelain legacy.

Summary

Gates acquired Pickard China, the last remaining U.S. maker of high-end porcelain.

He plans to guide the company’s creative future while expanding his own ceramics practice into porcelain.

Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates has acquired Pickard China, the last remaining high-end porcelain manufacturer in the U.S.

Founded in 1893 and based in Antioch, Illinois, Pickard has spent more than a century producing porcelain for clients ranging from the White House and U.S. embassies to hotels, private clubs and major retailers. In recent decades, however, the company has faced slower production and an aging factory in need of major upgrades.

Gates first connected with Pickard while searching for an American manufacturer for a homewares project with Prada. Andy Pickard Morgan, the fourth-generation family member who has led the company since 2006, later approached Gates about taking over the business as he prepared for retirement and no one in the family planned to continue running it.

The acquisition feels like a natural extension of Gates’ wider practice. Ceramics have been central to his work for years, drawing from both Japanese and African American traditions while also bringing attention to overlooked figures in ceramic history. Outside the studio, Gates has become known for restoring buildings and giving new life to cultural spaces and archives across Chicago’s South Side.

Speaking to NPR about Pickard’s future, Gates said the idea of the company “bringing artisanal manufacturing back to the fore” was especially exciting.

Gates will lead Pickard’s creative direction while putting together a management team to oversee its daily operations. Pickard Morgan will remain involved in an executive role. The artist also sees the factory as a chance to expand his own work with ceramics into porcelain, bringing his artistic practice directly into the future of the historic American manufacturer.