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closeSunday, Jul. 12, 2009
Pottery collectors may be sweet on cookie jars, swans
By Terry Maurer, What's it Worth
Today's What's It Worth looks at two collectible pieces of pottery -- each very useful and decorative.
Cookie jars -- which have been collectible for decades -- and figural pieces used as planters are items commonly seen at antique shops and shows.
Let's answers readers' questions about a Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar and a green swan-shaped planter.
Along the way, there'll be a review of a new, multivendor yard sale that was introduced to the Tri-Cities in June and will be open again later in July.
Q. This cookie jar stands nearly 13 inches high and has been around in our family since at least the 1950s. We know that it's Red Riding Hood from the nursery rhyme, but there are no marks on it. Can you tell us about it? -- Dottie in Kennewick.
A. American-made Little Red Riding Hood cookie jars -- popular and actively sought by many serious collectors -- have a confusing history.
Many companies made them and quite a few didn't mark their products at all. Prices today range from $50 to well over $1,000 for the rarer examples, and it is hard to tell what's what between unmarked pieces.
We have been able to identify your cookie jar -- which is in excellent condition and that will add to the value -- as having been made by Cronin China Co. of Minerva, Ohio.
These jars were distributed by an organization called The Pottery Guild, which was in business from 1937 through early 1946.
The value is between $100 and $150.
Q. Our green swan planter is 12 inches in length and measures about 5 inches from base to the top of the head. The bottom is marked "Bauer."
Is it of any particular value and would you know when it was made? -- Max in Kennewick
A. This piece was made by one of America's most famous potteries. Bauer started in the late 19th century in Kentucky and relocated to California in 1909. They went out of business in the 1960s.
Bauer's Kentucky operation started by making stoneware jugs and crocks for everyday household and business uses. In California, the company was making colorful (and now collectible) dinnerware by the early 1930s.
Their most decorative line was called "Ring," and they even made some high-end pieces designed by a man named Matt Carlton. The Carlton designs and rare pieces from the Ring line bring big prices at auctions.
Bauer's colorful dinner and kitchenwares were designed to compete with Gladding-McBean's "Coronado" and "Catalina" lines, which were being made in California at the same time.
Both companies were going head-to-head with the "800-pound gorilla" of the high-fired, vibrantly colored pieces of that era, the Homer Laughlin Co.'s wildly successful "Fiesta" dinnerware.
All three firms were successful, and success led to innovation in other areas. This swan-shaped planter falls into that area. They are seen much less often than other Bauer pieces, even though they were made about the same time.
It seems the swan planter came in three different sizes, and this version is the largest. In addition to green, the swan was offered in pink, ivory, blue and probably other colors.
We've seen this planter listed at online shops and at antique shows for as much as $100.
Seen and sold at TRAC
The TRAC Center in Pasco is offering something new to garage sale junkies and people who want to stage their own yard sales.
In late June, vendors set up for a one-day sale inside the air-conditioned comfort of the center in Pasco. Chanda Tebay of TRAC told us about 40 individual sellers took space for the first sale and 1,200 people attended.
What's It Worth chatted with Pasco's Betty Boston, who said she and her husband decided to do the sale because "we didn't know if anyone would find us if we did a sale on our own."
What had she brought to sell? "These are items that have been in storage and are things I haven't seen in a long time." Her merchandise ranged from golf equipment to old framed art prints.
When we talked with her after the sale, Betty said it is something they'd probably do again. "We sold a lot of things, particularly the larger items we really wanted to sell," she said.
Some well-known Tri-City dealers in antiques and collectibles also set up booths, and there were certainly bargains to be had.
The next TRAC garage sale is scheduled for July 25. The facility is located on Burden Boulevard, between Road 68 and Gesa Stadium. Information is available at 543-2999.
* Terry Maurer, a Tri-City personal property appraiser and antique dealer, is a member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. You may submit your antiques and collectible questions to What's It Worth by e-mail to whatsitworth@clearwire.net.
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