Antique Pottery

Hi,

Thank you for sharing these links to home school parents. I
am really pleased about the number of links in addition to the great content
available on http://www.artpotterymanufacturers.com/Links.html.
At this point, I am keen on teaching my daughters some craft work and thought of
pottery. I spent hours online looking for a good resource until I discovered
your website.  It was a breeze going through your page – you really did a good
job here. Such a big help for a busy single dad like me.  Now your site is just
a click away from my bookmark.

I am hoping that you continue to maintain your page and as a
simple token of my gratitude, I’d like to give you an educational website that I
know would be a very good addition to your list.  I also use http://www.startlocal.com.au/articles/educational_pottery.html
as reference; it is also good source of information on pottery such as its
history, basic process, and the industry.

I hope I was able to help you in some way because you surely
did help me by making my job easier. Love to know if you found my suggestions
helpful.

Cheers,

Jacob ‘Coby’ Crane

I received this email today from Robin…

I wanted you to know that I LOVE your PDF about identifying unmarked pottery. I found a pot at a thrift store for 6 bucks. I’m a complete amateur, I don’t collect pottery and I know nothing about it. I was just drawn to the pot. I looked at hundreds of images online unsuccessfully trying to find a match. it wasn’t until I found your site that I was able to search smarter. I used your step by step instructions to quickly hypothesize and eventually found out I have a Roseville Futura jardiniere from 1928. Your instructions were spot on and it was such fun solving my little mystery. So much fun in fact that I am now in love with vintage USA pottery. I stumbled upon so many fantastic designs while I was looking for mine. In the last month since my original find I’ve picked up a couple dozen unmarked pieces for 99 cents, a buck 99, at the most 4 bucks. I have identified several as McCoy, Royal Copley, Hull and I still have plenty of mystery pieces to search out in the wee hours. I have looked up a number of sites and yours continues to be by far the most helpful. You did a great job and I credit you in part for my new obsession. Thank you! Gotta run, I just used a crayon rubbing to attempt to make out a very faint square looking mark with maybe 623 above it. Can’t wait to see what this one is. Fun fun fun!

This past weekend, I went to the 3rd Sunday Flea Market in Bloominton Illinois. It’s a huge place at the Internet Center. It was about 4000 degrees outside which hindered the enjoyment of looking too much but was a cool venue overall. The vast majority of the stuff was retail priced but, a few booths were there to sell. As you can imagine, the sellers inside paid more for their air conditioned booths and wanted more to try and make ends meet. The pickers in the dirt lots without awnings had more interesting wares / deals. For example there was a RRP pottery piece inside for $69, outside there were two. One for $24, and one 18. There was a large variety of antique offerings as long as you brought the cash. As usual, I saw a ton of old things that I would love to own but, not at retail. (I’ll stick to tag sales and auctions to save the 6 dollar looky-loo fee to get in) Anyway, it is a way to spend a day…. http://www.thirdsundaymarket.com/

Since I started collecting antique pottery approximately 10 years ago, I am often asked “why”.  Why does a thirty something, straight male collect something often associated with blue haired women?  After being asked this question repeatedly I’ve decided to articulate it as best I can.  As you will discover, some of the reasons are pretty universal (why does anyone collect anything) and others are solely personal.  Here are the top ten reasons, in no particular order.

• Beauty -  Pottery is an art.  Creating a pottery piece is labor intensive, dangerous and fairly unpredictable.  (especially in the old days)  A number of steps and devotion goes into its creation.  In some sense I believe the potters energy is transferred to the clay he or she works.  I appreciate the skill and artistic vision required to produce these aesthetically pleasing pieces of art.

• Yesteryear -  As a kid I would often accompany my parents to antique stores, flea markets and garage sales.  I had a happy childhood.  Perhaps picking through layers of dust latent items in stale smelling air takes me back to that time?

• Utility -  Pottery items have purpose, even if it is only to look pretty.  The majority of pottery items hold or support something else.  Food is served, flowers displayed, books supported, liquid mobilized and plants grown with ceramic assistance.  They are essential tools that have enabled our modern lives to become more civilized and beautiful.

• Important History -  Pottery has been produced for 10′s of thousands of years.  It was probably discovered by our ancestors building a fire on ground rich with clay.  After discovering the rock like result in the fire pit, someone came up with a life altering idea.  I believe that it is in my innate  makeup to appreciate the stuff and it forms.  When I buy and clean an under appreciated garage sale find, I am in essence reintroducing it into the world by assigning it its rightful importance.  I become the pottery’s temporary caretaker for future enthusiasts.

• Imagination -  Along with the ancient history goes the more recent history of antique pottery.  When I find and buy a piece, of let’s say Rookwood, my imagination begins to travel back and through time.  I dream of the time period in which it was created.  What was America like then?  Where was this made?  Who specifically had there hands in its birth?  Where may this piece have traveled in its eighty plus years of existence?  Who and how many may have owned it.  What items may have been in it or used with it?  How long will this pottery item remain on earth in its current form?  Etc. Etc.  I’ve found that posing and focusing my attention on these imaginative questions is almost meditative.

• Mystery -  Discovering an antique pottery piece that is pleasing to my eye is just the beginning.  After getting the item home, a rewarding bit of sleuthing commences.  The process of investigating marks and initials, studying forms, glazes and  techniques can be not only interesting but, lends itself to enrich the other bullets on this list.  For example, if I’m able to nail down that a piece of pottery was created by Niloak around 1915, I can more easily imagine prewar WWI Arkansas and the hands that may have taken part in its development.  (Such as Charles Dean “Bullet” Hyten or a potter named Arthur Dovey)  The more specific the details concerning the ware, the more interesting and valuable it becomes.

• Discovery -  There is a certain rush of adrenaline associated with spotting a valuable piece of antique pottery on a thrift store shelf.  The excitement of picking it up and hastily checking for chips while glancing over the ridiculously low price is oh so much fun.  A sense of personal satisfaction comes with purchasing a two dollar piece of pottery while knowing that the item is coveted and valuable to collectors.

• Education -  Antique pottery collecting has become a way for me to not only learn about the past but also remain current with technology as well.  By combining my passions for pottery and computers, I’ve created and maintain two websites and a blog concerning the topic.  (http://www.oldantiquepottery.com , http://www.artpotterymanufactures and the blog you are reading this on http://www.artpotterycollectors.com)

• Hunting – Looking for places to uncover cool pieces of antique pottery is fun.  It takes me to different towns, cities and out of the norm places.  While in the hunt there are many different things to see, new locations to experience and unique (sometimes weird!) people to meet.  It’s nice to stop and smell the flowers along the journey.  There is always something new in the pursuit of the old.

• Value -  Antique pottery can be quite valuable.  Hoarding a collection of worthy pieces is as good as having money in the bank.  It’s also pretty nice to get a hundred dollars on Ebay for something I bought for three bucks!

Well, there you have them.  If these reasons don’t suffice in answering the question why I collect pottery, perhaps this simple explanation will do…  I’m just weird,  OK!?

I’ve been buying loads of old pottery from around Central Illinois,  in the last couple of weeks.  (pictures below)    I’ve also added a kilns section to my art pottery site, where I sell supplies and equipment related to creating pottery.  Besides those things, I’m looking for a 9-5 job.  Well here are some of the items that I just had to buy since they were soooooo cheap!

I’ve run out of room  to display pieces so all these have gone into boxes with the exception of some “Frog Skin” Jugtown Pottery pieces that I’ve listed on Ebay.

Below are inexpensive thrift store pieces that I found in Kentucky the trip before…

I fear that I may be becoming kind of a pottery hoarder?!  I should probably start selling some of these things but it’s so much more fun to buy than sell!

Welcome to my blog about collecting antique pottery.  Rather than post my thrift finds and collecting thoughts on my forum (that was getting bombarded with spam!) I’ve decided to create this.  I hope it proves easier and is more engaged than the other.  I’ll be adding stuff regularly, including plugins, so check back frequently.