Question:
What is this girl figurine used for? She looks like a maid, is bell shaped. It has two small holes across from each other, about her waist area; it is hollow inside. Stands about 6" tall.
I are stumped.
Answer:
The holes might be where they attached/hung the clapper for the bell?
Maybe on a ribbon or cord or woven wire which was then tied as a sash at her back waist?
Answer:
Yep, what Elaine said.
From what I found she was made by Cleminson, one of the California potteries. I don't have any California pottery books and know nothing about Cleminson. Maybe Elizabeth has a book on them.
Missing clapper.
Has an unreadable makers mark.
Shows the clapper.
Answer:
George & Betty Cleminson started one of the most successful husband & wife-owned giftware companies in California in the WWII period. They began their enterprise in 1941 as a hobby of Betty Cleminson; however turned it into a full-time business when she enlisted the services of her husband, George, to manage the business affairs while she created. The company was originally called "Cleminson Clay," but the name was changed to "The California Cleminsons" when they outgrew their garage and moved the pottery to El Monte, CA, in 1943. At the height of production, just after the war, the Cleminsons pottery employed over 150 people. In 1958, when Hedi Schoop's pottery had a disastrous fire, Schoop opted to not rebuild her plant and worked with The California Cleminsons (TCC) on a new fifties modern line of household items where she employed a new dripped glaze technique that she had developed. Schoop also used some of her own molds while at TCC. By the early 1960s, it was no longer possible to compete with the imported Japanese wares, so in 1963, rather than cheapen their merchandise, George & Betty Cleminson decided to close the pottery. Hedi Schoop also retired.
So your bell was made between 1941 and 1963.
Answer:
You guys are so fantastic, smart, and I'm sure all gorgeous.
This is a wealth of info, I sure appreciate it. So.... her "legs" are the clapper, it's ery cute. I believe I will add her ribbon, and perhaps tie some small pice of pottery under her, to see how she rings.
Thanks again, - You are all so... so... "Brittanic"!
Susie