Sunday, May 10, 2009

Small Treasures



On another trip through an antique mall we found 2 lovely early pieces of Blue Mountain Pottery. The small spittoon vase number 32B and the number 11 bowl. Both showing early marks, the spittoon vase with a raised mold mark with the grinding marks to remove the excess glaze drip after firing and also leveling the bottom surface, the small tapered bowl shows the early incised mark scribed into the base before firing. Glaze coloring and drip would also date both pieces to an early production time. A dark olive green around the top of the spittoon vase with light green-blue in the drip. A heavy glaze with larger drip effect on the tapered bowl. Two excellent examples of the early craftsmanship which continued over the years to bring a small local pottery to worldwide distribution.

Why is collecting the earlier pieces more of a challenge? Two of the most common reasons would be the early items were in a more limited production due to a small demand and production facilities being smaller. The second reason would be that over the years items would have been damaged in household moves and discarded. Finding excellent condition pieces is getting harder all the time as some savvy collectors have turned their interest towards the more vintage pieces.

Most of the very early Blue Mountain Pottery can be found in basically only 3 colors, green, blue or the more uncommon plum glaze. Red,mocha, slate and harvest gold glazes were used later.

On your next trip through your favorite mall or antique shop remember to check the uncommon or interesting green glaze pieces for the earlier mark.

Good luck with your collecting and searching for the uncommon pieces to expand your collection.

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