American Pottery Shows Up at Teaberry Appraisals

For the past 15 years or so, much old American pottery has been in a sort of hiding, tucked away on collectors’ shelves or in the dark corners of antique shops perhaps embarrassed of their high price tags. It wasn’t always that way. During the previous 15, from about 1985-2000, American Pottery from the late 19th to the mid-20th Century was something of a market craze.
Collectors stripped antique shop shelves, buying everything in sight, while dealers fought over it at auction, driving up the prices.
Eventually those high prices became unsustainable. This is especially true with two of the big-name companies, Weller and Roseville. Although early pieces by these companies were hand-painted, most of their output was manufactured and mass-produced.
Don’t get me wrong. Both of these companies deserve to be collected and displayed for the quality of their pottery, expertly detailed molds, and artful designs. They are also somewhat limited in quantity. Most of Roseville’s patterns, for instance, were only produced for one year. And, most importantly for the collector, their patterns truly evoke the times in which they were made.
Sam Weller started his company in the late 1870s in his barn with one helper and a horse. He opened his first factory in Zanesville, Ohio in 1882. Roseville Pottery was started by a conglomerate in 1892 in Roseville, Ohio. They moved to Zanesville in 1898, but kept the Roseville name. Both companies really took off after World War I.
On today’s market, both Weller and Roseville have grown into their once inflated prices, so it was great to see an example of each of these companies brought in to The Marketplace@Teaberry on Route 9 in Clermont when I was there doing appraisals May 17.
This gives me the opportunity to advise folks to take another look at all the other manufactures of American decorative pottery of the early 20th Century, including such names as: Rookwood, McCoy, Hull, Stangl, RumRill, Gonder, Abingdon, Haeger and others. Prices that once seemed out of line are now sounding more reasonable. Many of these pieces will be turning into genuine 100-year-old antiques in the next few decades, and, in the meantime, can offer years of faithful service among your favorite decorative accessories.
Enjoy the photos of some of the things I saw at Teaberry that day. I want to thank everyone there for their hospitality, and especially for the tasty lunch at their in-house bistro, which has fast become the “local caf” for residents and visitors alike.
In the next column, I’ll share some of the things I saw at this year’s very successful Avalon Antique Show on Memorial Day weekend.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to: aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.