AURORA, N.Y. – Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, a ceramist and co-founder of the whimsical tabletop lifestyle brand that bears her name, passed away on March 4. She was 77, according to Wikipedia and other published reports, although The New York Times reported that she was “approximately” that age, citing her daughter, Heather Chaplet, who said she didn’t know her mother’s exact age. The cause of death was unknown.
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, one of the original founders of MacKenzie-Childs,” the company said in a statement shared with HFN. “Her creative spirit laid the foundation of the brand carried on by our company today. Our thoughts are with her husband Richard and her loved ones during this difficult time.”
Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs founded their namesake company in 1983, originally focusing on majolica dinnerware and glassware. Victoria graduated from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1977, after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University, according to Wikipedia.
They quickly became known for their bold, black-and-white Courtly Check pattern, and their distinct sense of style was once described by The New York Post as “Mary Poppins meets Alice in Wonderland,” according to Wikipedia. The brand was scooped up by retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, and then MacKenzie-Childs opened its own Madison Avenue store in 1993. The Aurora, N.Y.-based company currently operates a store at its headquarters and another at 410 West Broadway in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and its assets were bought by American Girl founder, Pleasant Rowland. It is currently owned by the private equity firm EagleTree Capital, according to The New York Times.
Over the years, the company expanded beyond tabletop into many other home categories and is now a lifestyle brand. Its Courtly Check remains a mainstay, however, and is available in several colors. The company just unveiled a melamine collection, a new medium for the company, that reimagines some of its iconic check patterns in fresh ways.
