by Lin Romberg
Shawnee Tales
June 2014
I know some of our readers have joined the Shawnee pottery site on Facebook and we have added new subscribers to the newsletter from it as well. A reminder there are also two other sites, cookie jars and also pottery. Fun to hear about the finds and flea markets across the country.
One question that arose is about the red headed Granny Ann teapots - I have only seen the red head on the lavender apron - in fact the two I have are the only two I have seen in person but with other collectors I had also only heard of the red hair on the lavender bases but recently one showed up on a peach apron so I emailed a lot of collectors inquiring about them. So far all have been on lavender aprons with the green trim on the cape - I was not able to get a close up on the peach apron as the collector who has it is traveling. Would love to hear from other readers regarding this. I have always been of the belief that even with the unusual extra decoration there is quite a bit of consistency.
Most of the added decoration on jars are on the yellow bibs - the bees, bugs, etc yet the butterflies tend to be on the green bib shamrocks. With all the tampering that has gone on, pieces are showing up that are suspicious - there are two jars at Heart of Ohio - a gold tulip Smiley with a fly and a yellow bib Smiley with a yellow butterfly - several collectors have seen them and feel they have been tampered with. I've gotten some pictures of authentic pieces to help collectors spot what is real and what might not be. Years ago all of the Smileys with hair came on yellow bibs with exception of the red heads which always came on green bibs - most with the unusual companion base with the chrysanthemum base but over the years a few with the shamrocks, one in particular I know the collector switched the base thinking it belonged on the shamrock since we don't really find the chrysanthemum base paired with other than a red bib.
In recent years some of the jars with hair have turned up with a red head on blue, black hair on blue and green bibs - not saying one might not be genuine other than two blue bibs I have seen, the others raise some suspicions. Especially because they seem to be offered for outrageous prices, not found in shops for a bargain price. Buyer beware and use caution. Below are the pictures of the two jars at Heart of Ohio (pictures for educational use)
These jars with bugs and bees were sent by a collector to share, I have never been able to acquire these, they seem to appear in the Midwest - beautiful assortment. Study the items and you will begin to see the consistency. We'd love to have you share pictures of any added decoration you have.
A colllector found one of the less common decaled sugar/grease baskets - the oval baskets and round buckets are far more common than this round basket. Gorgeous decals. Now he needs to pair it with a set of range shakers, either Dutch or Smileys!
Also a rare Great Northern Dutch Girl cookie jar, only very few known.
Cookie Jar Auction
Saturday, July 12, 2014 - 11:00am
Inside Kent Mickelson Auction Center
Freeman, MO
Hope everyone has some wonderful finds at all the summer markets across the country.
Until next month.
Lin linromb@aol.com
Doug's Corner
I was recently asked about a Gazelle figurial piece (10 1/2" x 7"). The color is a little different than "normal". The mold is different than the production piece. The question is whether or not it is vintage. Why is it there is rarely a straight forward yes or no answer?
The gazelle in question
The horns are noticeably different
Vintage Gazelle marked U.S.A. 614
The bottom is missing the two center "feet".
The fact that it measures right and may have an anomaly in the glaze at the spot where the mark should be, makes me think a pre-production piece.
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There is a cookie jar auction coming up mid July in Freeman, Mo - two large collections with a lot of high end jars. Web address for more information and catalog to be posted later is - www.mickelsonauction.com
