in 1879, along with her fellow ceramics painter mary louise mclaughlin, nichols commissioned the creation of an under-glaze and over-glaze kiln at a local pottery shop in cincinnati. nichols was also having pieces of pottery created to her specifications locally, then painting them decoratively. the following year, nichols founded the now famous rookwood pottery, the first woman from cincinnati to own such a shop. soon she employed a modest staff consisting of both men and women, including a potter and chemist named joseph bailey and, as her general assistant and a china decorator, clara chipman newton. she encouraged her team to be creative, use new mediums and subjects to create fine art. american pottery was considered unrefined and maria was trying to change this perspective.