Question:
I found this small vase in a thrift store the other day. It's 5" across and 4" high.
It's my first Van Briggle I have ever owned. I looked on the web including ebay, but no luck. It's flawless and a keeper.
George
Answer:
Here are some sites with bottom marks:
http://www.justartpottery.com/potter...er/2004_04.htm
http://www.oldpottery.com/van_briggle_pottery.htm
Answer:
Ohhhh that is gorgeous!
A thrift shop? You be one lucky thrifter...
congrats!
Answer:
Thanks Tina for the fast reply.
It looks like a earlier pot that there were still experimenting with. The 3 blue ink marks are hard to read but, I make out bottom one as “.5 IV” . That maybe the date mark!
The middle one looks like “anne”. The six squares are probably marks from the blocks randomly placed to keep it off the bottom of the kiln so the air would circulate better. If you look from the top, you can see it’s not perfectly round. It looks like they were not making very large production numbers at this time.
I going to order Collector's Encyclopedia and do some more research.
Answer:
From Kovel's American Art Pottery book,
it says your mark was used after 1920; in 1922 -1929 they added a USA incised mark.
Can you do a closer image of the blue mark?
OHHhhhh, my bad - your mark is earlier --- 1902-1905.... I think.
Those marks may also indicate other things:
"1901-1905 - the pattern number, the Roman numeral V, indicating the type of clay. " Also: "The pattern number, a variety of Roman numerals indicating different clays, e.g. V, X,VV,VX; nad Arabic numbers enclosed in circles, inidcating individual pottery finishers." Sorry 'bout that!
Answer:
Well, if your piece does not have a fake mark, I believe that it is much later. To me, it looks like your mark reads, "Van Briggle Colo Spgs" below the side-by-side "A's."
Excerpts from The Collector's Encyclopedia of Van Briggle Art Pottery, by Richard Sasicki and Josie Fania, 1993, below:
After the mid-1930s, words were written in a stylized script or printed in various combinations.
In general, pottery produced from the mid to late 1940's through 1969, have undersides of white coloration and appear cleaner when compared to previous years. They also have a clear shiny coat of shellac over the undersides. The use of two-digit finisher numbers or incised initials may also be found. Finisher numbers should not be mistaken for dates, as pottery was no longer dated at this time. It is not uncommon to see artist initials accompanied by the word "Original" indicating that the item was hand thrown by that particular artist. Additional marks found on undersides during this period include dashes or numbers, both appearing in ink. These marks were related to the manufacturing process and indicated that an item was either redone, re-fired, or received some other treatment during the process.
Does your mark look similar to the one in the below link for 1956?
http://www.wits-end.net/rose/StevesVBDating.htm
That is a gorgeous piece. I wonder if that is the Mulberry glaze (a deep maroon color usually seen with a blue overspray) that was modified in 1946 to a lighter shade called "Persian Rose."
It is not identified in my book.
Answer:
Hi:
By looking at the pictures on the web, I am more confused then ever. It has the bottom of 1905 and the cursive lettering of 1907. It may have been a one op, or refired to change the color. The bottom is not completely flat, rocks a little. And is a little out of round in shape. If it was a newer peace, you would think they would have all the bugs worked out.
Is the form of mine showen any where in your book? That was the one I ordered.
It's to bad they didn't have a better dating system.
Answer:
Note the use of uper and lower case letters on this item. Denotes after After 1930
Answer:
I email Steve
http://www.wits-end.net/rose/index.htm
with the pictures and this is his reply
"Thanks for asking. You have a philodendron vase, The bottom indicates it was made sometime in the 40's to 60's time frame, it is #847. First introduced in 1910 and has many revisions. The glaze is called persian rose, it appears to be in good condition and you could expect the value to be somewhere around $40-$50.
Thanks
SteveNRose"
It's not worth what I first thought, but it's my first VB and to me it's priceless. I hope to acquire more.
Thanks for all your replys to my post.
Answer:
Great thread. Thanks so much for posting your find. It's beautiful and I learned a lot about dating VB.
Congratulations.