by Lin Romberg
Oct 2014
Shawnee Tales
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Lots of interest in the Smileys with added decoration - with hair, butterflies and bugs or patches - posting an assortment of pictures for collectors to help identify what is out there. Many times, but not always, there are blems on the jars - often times on gold jars the inside rim of the head will have kiln cracks or firing imperfections making it a second. Often the ones with hair will have noticeable bumps or bubbles in the firing on top of the head and sometimes will have a nicked ear or shoulder. On Facebook one of the posters inquired about purchasing with minor damage - my response was if the price if reasonable and the damage minimal, I would purchase - some of the imperfections could have been from the factory and why the piece was decorated. I encouraged him to purchase them as I really feel the only regrets are the ones we don't purchase, at least that is my experience. The one I posted a picture of has a nicked ear on the back side and bubbles in the glaze on top of the head right beneath the strands of hair - note - I was considering him because of the block letters SMILEY and the seller mentioned black specks on the head - I expected the typical pitting we find on some of the yellow bibs, not strands of hair! What a nice surprise!
Decals are another area that collectors are becoming more interested in - here are an assortment of pictures featuring Granny Ann's - another month I will feature the Bo Peeps and Chanticleers - right now is an excellent time to purchase as prices are sometimes as low as $70 - $125 on Buy It Now - at the peak I was paying $250-275, definitely a buyers market right now and a chance to build a nice collection of teapots. I haven't added any Grannys recently but would love to find the stenciled all over one shown - she is a beauty, not at all common but know of several in various collections. I often wonder exactly how many variations of Grannys there actually are out there??? I was delighted awhile back to find out there were two versions of the air brushed granny - the peach apron and lavender apron.
Years ago I almost passed up a gold stenciled Granny because of the peculiar lid - my favorite base but an ugly top yet I have seen several other lids like it or similar - so glad I decided to add it.
A few "standards" - stencils on various ones but almost always on the gold green aproned Grannys - note, here is an unusual lighter colored green apron I found years ago! Almost all red heads are on lavender apron, possibly a few exceptions, still trying to validate this
Very rare, possibly one of a kind is the gray aproned one below.
A collector sent in some pictures of her collection - love the way she displays many of her pieces - I always feel our collections add so much warmth to our homes.
Still no additional information on the elephant shakers on the cover of the Mangus book. Interesting sale on Ebay - the Supnick Commemorative Winnie sold for over $500!
Until next month,
Lin Linromb@aol.com
