by Lin Romberg
Jan 2015
Shawnee Tales
  Another year to celebrate!  Hoping this is a wonderful year for everyone.

  I reconnected with several long time pottery friends over this past month.  Interestingly most of the conversations were not about pottery but we spent the time catching up with each other lives.  BUT one bit of pottery that came up was an auction held a few months back.  It was for a Smiley pig cookie jar that Jeff Koehler, auctioneer, posted on Facebook for an upcoming auction - mind you, it was very unusual and atypical of any Shawnee Smiley I have every seen, others agreed. It sold out of an auction house in Ohio and as Jeff had commented on Facebook many serious collectors felt it was authentic even though per the picture it was not something a lot of agreed with.  Well, I have always said, hands on is the real tell tale and after talking with this long time collector who has no doubt about the authenticity of the jar, I was excited to hear about this.  Below is a picture of the jar.  I think so many of us have been scared of some of the tampering that we have witnessed or heard of over the years that we might pass up something authentic just out of skepticism.

  I was delighted to add an unusual Winnie cookie jar to my collection this past month.  She was my Christmas present to myself and looks brand new.  She is the red lacquer collar with red lacquer paint on the lid flower rather than the usual blue.  Her red lacquer is the prettiest I have ever seen. She even came with the story from the original owner - her father gave it to her mother in 1956.  I copied the email about the story and put it in the jar, I have always loved knowing the background history of any jar if at all possible. 
  Funny thing about red lacquer - years ago when I first began collecting, I purchased a pair of Smiley shakers out of the Antique Trader, long before we had computers and pictures - well, I contacted the seller and actually returned the item because I was so certain some one had painted over the original piece because I didn't know the red lacquer was authentic- talk about being a novice!!!! Over the years I have spoken to so many collectors who have also rejected a piece early on for the same reason and others who have used turpentine, paint remover, utensils and so forth trying to remove the red lacquer on Winnie cookie jars in particular!!!!  Early on in my collecting days the only reference book I had was Supnicks - a delight to collectors but limited in comparison to all the reference books we have accumulated over the years!  One of the couples who would come to Pottery Festival in the 80's and 90's had Supnicks book and marked with every variation in color of planters, shakers, teapots - it was like a bible and they had the most inclusive selection of everything displayed in those pages!

  On a sad note, I learned Melvin Gibson passed away in February - he was such an avid collector and we had a lot of good times at Pottery Festival years back.  He and Jean visited Arizona about fifteen years ago and we hit most of the shops in town.  During our trek we found a Smiley non bank chocolate jar - Jean and I both missed there was no slot in the lid and we were halfway home by the time I mentioned I had always wanted one - Mel didn't know it was rare and said there was no bank slot on the lid - well, made a U-turn that he never let me forget and back we went - sure enough Mel was right.  He insisted I get the jar but then a year or so later wanted it for Jean's birthday so off it went to Michigan.  So many fun memories, that is what collecting is all about.

  Would love to hear from readers as to any Christmas gifts they received of Shawnee or even pictures they might have of holiday displays with their pottery!

Here's to a health and happy New Year for everyone.

Until next month,

Lin                                  Linromb@aol.com
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