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.

Surprises at the smaller Antique Malls

You never know where or what you will find when out strolling through some of the smaller antique malls. On a recent trip through one of the smaller antique malls I found this earlier glaze on a #54 10 inch vase. Nothing unusual about it sitting on the shelf amongst the other green pieces offered in this booth. After a close examination for damage or flaws a very interesting surprise surfaced on the bottom. Impressed near the outer edge was a small rectangular mark "BMP Canada", with some searching it is obviously the mark used in the Studio Pottery where the public could view the making of hand thrown pieces in the same forms as molded pieces produced by Blue Mountain. This same mark was used on many pieces thrown by "Domenic Stanzione" accompanied by his signature. This vase is unsigned and probably made by another potter in the studio. Running a hand inside the vase the ribbing from the pulling of the clay is very definite. Would this piece command the same price as a signed piece? In all probability it would fall well short of the highly collectible signed "Stanzione" pieces. Still an interesting find. My small personal collection is made up of the early incised marks and early raised marks in green, blue and plum glaze. I will eventually dust off my collection and add it to the website for all to view.

Some Help With Identifying Blue Mountain Pottery

On many occasions you will find dealers/sellers that misidentify other Canadian pottery as Blue Mountain Pottery. Potteries such as McMaster, Beauce, Evangeline, Laurentien and Canadian Ceramic Crafts also produced a green glaze on their pieces, color and application would easily identify any unmarked pieces.

The simplest and easiest is by the markings on the base if any. I have seen many pieces by Evangeline (well marked) advertised as Blue Mountain. The uneducated/misinformed dealer/seller attempts to sell most green pottery pieces as Blue Mountain solely because of the price difference. Flea Markets, Antique Shops or any Online Sales venue will have a few misidentified pieces. The stickers on the bottom or inside an open base does not guarantee authentic Blue Mountain as some stickers could have been applied to these pieces to misrepresent the piece. Another issue is pieces advertised as "RARE", if this was the only piece still in existence then it would be rare. In most cases a "Rare" piece is soon followed by 6 or 8 more "Rare" pieces. It is astonishing how you can browse through an Antique Mall finding an item marked as "Rare" and then finding 2 or 3 more of the same item within the mall. A cautious buyer is a knowledgeable buyer.

A Slow Start

Following a few technical problems our website has started to propagate in cyberspace. We will be adding to the site continually as we build on new information. Check back often to view our updates.

Check out our site:
http://www.thebmpcc.com/

The Beginning

With the growing popularity of collecting Canadian Pottery, there is a need for information being made available to the new or veteran collector. Bringing news and information to all is our goal. Our website will be published soon to help identify different makers in the Georgian Bay area of Ontario. Potteries such as Blue Mountain, CCC (Canadian Ceramic Crafts, later known as Rainbow Ceramics) Huronia Pottery, Pine Pottery and Rainbow Pottery (not to be confused with Rainbow Ceramics). Watch for our website.