This month has flown by! I have been so busy. Being almost fully retired,
I had to work at lot this past month as my brother/business partner had
emergency eye surgery when his retina detached. Very scary and a slow recovery.
For those of you dating back to Pam Curran's newsletter days, Ron and Connie
Brown from Fargo, ND moved to Phoenix last month for Ron to train at the
Motorcycle Institute. He's had me out chasing pottery locally again - had to
laugh as second time over to their new home, he already had a piece of Shawnee
to display - he found the small rabbit figurine at the Brass Armadillo for
$4.99 - the dealer had it marked "small bunny" .
We went to Glendale to tour all the small shops - saw some nice pieces but
nothing either of us needed for our collections. Ron has hit a lot of the
malls and shops yet can't believe how little we see here - said in North Dakota
the assortment is so much better - he was amazed that he has yet to see a
miniature anywhere in the state!!
This month a collector found a rare version of a relatively uncommon piece -
the red feather creamer - none of us who have seen it know of any others -
have a picture of it - take notice of the quilt stitch around the circle
differing from the small lines on the one we are familiar with - also the red
feather is MUCH larger as well bolder in design. Beautiful piece, possibly a
prototype - will be interesting to see if others surface or have been found in
the past. We could use input readers - let us know what you are finding and
please let us know when we feature items if you have something similar or have
seen it. Helps keep all of us up to date.
Heard from a fairly new collector who happened to purchase one of the new
"fake" chanticleers on Ebay - she had paid close to $80. Luckily the seller
was cooperative and is taking back plus reimbursing the shipping - nice to hear
of honorable sellers amount those selling this new stuff. I have to admit
this piece is far more attractive and believable than most of what we are
seeing on the auctions. Check the web site for the information on the patent
involving this piece and several others - I was disappointed to know someone
could register the trademark Shawnee for junk like this as had thought Cecil
Rapp had the rights to the name for the new Shawnee line he has been producing.
Also a "pair" of Smiley and Winnie cookies jars - not a pair as we would
normally think of them since the Smiley is a gold trim yellow bib and the Winnie
is a gold trim peach collar BUT taking note of the decoration, this couple
has to have been together since they were decorated so probably have at least
a fifty year anniversary behind them.......
Another oddity for those of you who don't follow the auctions for planters
closely is possibly one of a kind Chihuahua planter - the buyer states it is obviously factory produced as the entire mold is conjoined. Reminds me of the rare rabbit on the Corn King butter dish bottom featured in Pam Currans book on page 263. Have to wonder if these are lunch time pieces employees did for
themselves or experimental pieces that never made it in to the regular production line.
