Potteries of California

Roselane Quail

Bryan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:35:29 +0000

I picked up this nice ceramic quail that I believe was made by the Roselane Pottery. It features a nice gradation of glaze on the body, probably applied with some sort of spray apparatus. I’d earlier found Roselane Doves with the same sort of markings. Note that these are sometimes confused with Howard Pierce and other [...]

Cali Crown Trinket Dish

Bryan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:01:21 +0000

More often than not, I find a piece of California pottery at the thrift that I believe to be a particular type of dish, and later find out that it’s merely part of another larger set, or even an entirely different item. This occurs most frequently with Chip and Dip pieces, but in this case, [...]

New Ackerman Website

Bryan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:06:11 +0000

I actually just received a very nice email from Laura Ackerman Shaw, the daughter of California ceramicists Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman. The Ackermans are currently the subject of a the Masters of Mid-Century California Modernism Exhibit at the Mingei Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park. We recently got a chance to check out the exhibition [...]

Frazier “Briar” Dish

Bryan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:36:54 +0000

Apologies in advance, but the next couple posts are probably going to feature blurry cameraphone photos of California Pottery. The reason is that I’ve got a large backload of these photos from the thrift stores. I’ve really started to cut back on what I buy, but I still like to take photos for the website [...]

Green Calpotter Vase

Bryan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:56:58 +0000

This is the third time I’ve passed up a Calpotter vase at the thrift store, but the only time I actually got a cellphone photo of it. This one had a large crack, otherwise I definitely would have grabbed it for 99 cents. Most Calpotter items have some sort of gold paint decoration. Little is [...]

Bauer Swirl Flowerpot

Bryan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:00:40 +0000

I’ve had really interesting experiences with Bauer Pottery finds. One of the weirdest things is that I seem to encounter or acquire them in bunches. I’ll go four or five months with absolutely no Bauer items at the thrift, and then find four or five items in just a week! In any case, I seem to [...]

De Maray Footed Bowl

Bryan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:36:36 +0000

Another fun find from last week was this M & L Manufacturing bowl made most likely in the 1950s. Note that you probably won’t ever find items marked with the company name - instead, they’re almost always marked as De Maray. This is a pretty common occurrence with a lot of California potteries from the [...]

Mad Men Pot Spotting

Bryan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:46:14 +0000

No, no. I don’t mean “pot” as in the episode where Peggy meets Mary Jane. I’m talking Pottery Spotting on Mad Men. Quite a few pieces of California (and non-California as well) pottery have been spotted on AMC’s Mad Men series. This latest spotting appears to be a ceramic California pottery planter, but I’m not [...]

Cemar Low Bowl

Bryan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:51:10 +0000

Over the years, I’ve definitely slowed down on my purchases of California pottery at thrift stores. In the beginning, I was pretty much buying anything I could identify as being from California. Three reasons for that. The first is that in many cases I didn’t have examples (especially of the backstamps) for the reference. Secondly, [...]

Bauer Blue Rose Bowl

Bryan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:01:44 +0000

The other day, I was just saying how I hadn’t really found any Bauer at the thrift in awhile. The very next day, I found what I believe is a Bauer Rose Bowl in Monterey Blue. The shape sure looks like it, but I wasn’t sure of the color at first. It also seems a [...]