July 2010 – American Art Pottery Convention, Cleveland

 

 

The American Art Pottery Association held its annual convention in Cleveland this year. It’s always a well-organized, well-attended affair with private sales, a big auction and a pottery show that’s open to the public.

 

 

There was an educational exhibit of pottery by Viktor Schreckengost (the Cowan Pottery designer of the Jazz Bowl) and his brothers, Don and Paul, plus displays of other rare pieces of art pottery. If you figure you’ll never be able to afford a major piece by the Schreckengosts, you can instead look for some of their commercial wares.

 

 

A group of small clay “Our Gang” figures (pictured) made by Don and Paul Schreckengost for a 1933 children’s paint set was exhibited. Viktor made the backdrop for the set.

 

 

In the 1920s, Paul started working for the Gem Clay Forming Co., a Sebring, Ohio, manufacturer of heating elements. Within a decade, Paul was designing refrigerator ware at Gem for Kelvinator and Westinghouse. Pieces have rounded corners and recessed lids to save storage space. Around the same time, Viktor was designing Jiffy Ware for American Limoges and Hotco for Salem China.

 

 

General Electric asked Viktor to design a line of clocks for children’s rooms in the late 1930s. The clown clock (pictured) was one of the five designs produced. Don designed Epicure, a modern dinnerware line, for Homer Laughlin China Co. in 1955.

 

 

Of course I shopped. It took over two hours to walk the show and I saw many pieces of art pottery and recent studio pottery. Some of my favorites, along with the one piece I bought, are pictured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took $3,200 to buy this 15-inch Weller vase decorated with a single dragon.

This 4-inch dog tile made in England by Sherwin & Cotton was priced $450. It was made by an unusual photographic method used by only a few tile companies.

The largest item in the show was this 30-inch Kay Finch mermaid statue offered for $1,450. The same figure was sometimes made to be a fountain.

 

This 5-inch Weller vase with a fox on the side and ceramic branches positioned as a flower holder was $500.

 
 

University of North Dakota pieces are often unusual. This 8-inch covered jar was $575.

This clown clock was designed by Viktor Schreckengost for General Electric. It was on display at the convention but wasn’t for sale.

There were thousands of pieces of pottery at the show, but I bought only one piece, a Sascha Brastoff box in the Mayan pattern for $125. Sascha (real name, Samuel Brostofsky) went to high school with a former coworker at Kovels, so we consider him a local Cleveland artist even though he worked in California.

This 7-inch turquoise blue bust made by the American Art Clay Co. (AMACO) was marked $195.

I collect American-decorated Satsuma, a crackled Japanese pottery from the World War I era. So this 3-by-4-inch covered box was a surprise. It’s decorated like American Satsuma, but it’s porcelain. It must have been decorated by American china painters of the same period.

 

Does this look like Hull pottery? It’s from a set of Tropicana pieces, each priced about $400 to $500.

 

Lisa Larson, an artist working for Sweden’s Gustavsburg pottery, has become very popular. This 5-inch Afghan dog was $120.

 


 

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