McCoy pottery — Page 13

Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part Three

April 18, 2015 at 9:39 am by Claudia

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Hello, everyone! More McCoy today. I’m trying to get the colors of the glazes exactly right as I edit these photos. Light, as you know, or lack of it, can truly change the way a color looks and the subtle differences are tricky. Hopefully, Lightroom (my favorite photo editing tool) has managed to show you the actual colors. But that’s why the wall in the background will look different from photo to photo. The color of the pottery is more important.

Back to the living room today.

4-18 group 1

As an example: I had to really work on editing these two pieces – a vase and a jardiniere – for the glaze is a very specific shade of aqua. I have these two pieces on top of the white cabinet in the living room, along with a duplicate of the birds and berries vase I showed you in the first part of the series and another green vase with a matte finish that is not McCoy.

4-18 blue-green vase

I love this vase. It’s 9 inches high and was made around 1948. I believe I got in on eBay. It’s very elegant.

4-18 quilted jardiniere

Oh, baby. This is my largest piece – a quilted jardiniere with a leaf and berry design. The opening at the top is 12 inches in diameter. From 1955. These jardinieres often came with matching pedestals. The pedestals are hard to find – if I had one for this jardiniere, the value would soar. But a pedestal in my house? With a dog? And a husband who bumps into things? No.

4-18 quilted jardiniere detail

A bit of detail. By the way, this piece is very heavy.

4-18 group 2

Two more large pieces – a vase and a jardiniere. They live on the shelf under the dollhouse. I like them there because the table the dollhouse rests upon is a cream color, the dollhouse is white, and the pottery just seems to go there.

4-18 strap vase 2

This vase is often called the Strap Vase. It is very tall – 12 inches high – and very heavy. From 1947. I’ve also seen it in aqua. You can see the crazing along the top. It’s simply gorgeous.

4-18 basketweave jardiniere

This jardiniere is in the basket weave pattern, a pattern found in a lot of early McCoy pottery. This is from the 1930’s. Sometimes these pieces are marked with the Nelson McCoy (NM) mark. Mine is unmarked. 8½ inches in diameter. Very heavy. Matte glaze, with leaves and berries at the top of the jardiniere.

This holds (and hides) the glue bottles I use when working on the dollhouse.

4-18 group 3

Also in the living room, these two vases hold dried hydrangeas from my gardens.

4-18 aqua vase

I’ve seen this piece called the Baluster Vase. It is one of my absolute favorites and it was on my Want List for a long time before I finally brought one home to the cottage. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s from 1950 and it lives on the piano – right next to the singing birds. 12 inches high.

4-18 aqua vase detail

One of my favorite things about McCoy pottery is the kind of thing that happens with the glaze on this handle – it intensifies when it goes into the deeper etched lines on the handle and lightens on the raised portions. I swoon when I see this.

4-18 vase from SD

I bought this vase when I was working in San Diego for a six-month stint. That would be almost six years ago. Then, as now, it lived on my coffee table. I can’t find a date for this one, but I imagine it would be from the 1950s. It’s 8½ inches high.

Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part Two

April 15, 2015 at 9:31 am by Claudia

Okay, I know I said I would do this series every other day, but apparently I lied. I have another post planned (fingers crossed) for tomorrow and Friday is consistently the day of the week with the least visitors and page views, so today it is. We’ll have Part Three on Saturday.

Speaking of page views and visits, Spring is here….and you’re all busy outside, as you should be! But let me remind you that I posted a book review on Monday for a great book and I’m giving away a copy. Do you really want to miss out? I usually have twice the number of comments/entries for a giveaway, so I can only assume you’re outside, trowel in hand, planting and having a great time. Take a minute, though, and read the review and throw your name in the pot.

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Just a few more pieces from the den and then we move on to the living room.

4-15 MC Group One

Two pots, and a centerpiece bowl.

4-15 floraline

This pot is from a line McCoy produced called Floraline – which was strictly for the florist industry and was highly successful. Simple designs were the theme. This pot is probably the ‘newest’ piece of McCoy that I own – from the 60s. It sits on a table in the den and holds the remotes.

4-15 floraline mark

And there’s the Floraline mark, as well as a number which identified the design. If you see anything marked ‘Floraline’ as you’re out and about, you’ll know it’s McCoy.

4-15 centerpiecebowl

A centerpiece bowl, from around 1948, with a lovely leaf design at the base. Such a pretty color. This was a gift from my friend Heidi.

4-15 rustic

This adorable pot is from the Rustic Line of McCoy. The most common glaze for Rustic was ivory with a turquoise and brown spray. But some of it was also produced in solid colors, like this one. I have another Rustic piece in turquoise that you’ll see on another day. This was a gift from the lovely Linda. It’s from around 1945.

4-15 MC Group Two

We move on to the living room. A jardiniere, two planting dishes, and a hanging pot. The yellow pieces live on the shelves in the sideboard. The cream piece lives on the coffee table.

4-15 yellow pot

From the late forties, a yellow jardiniere. It has a lily motif. Lots of crazing, which I love. I can’t remember where I got this one. (I know you think I remember where I got everything I collect, but it’s becoming quite clear that I don’t!) This one holds our sunglasses.

4-15 hanging pot 1

Another one of my favorites and one of the first pieces I bought – on eBay. This is a hanging basket with a gorgeous ivy design.

4-15 hanging pot 2

It originally came with a chain that fit into three grooves on the basket. You can see one in this photo.

And, perhaps the most creative way to show the McCoy mark:

4-15 hanging pot 3

Isn’t that cool? From around 1950.

4-15 yellow planter

This yellow planter is from the 1940s. I’m pretty sure Don gave it to me. It holds our keys.

4-15 cream planting bowl

And this cream colored planting bowl is just like the aqua version I showed you yesterday. I bought this in San Diego when I was working there for six month a few years back. It made my apartment there seem like home. It sits on the coffee table and holds vintage bakelite Mah-jongg tiles – also found in San Diego.

More on Saturday – there’s lots of McCoy to show you!

And you might find this video interesting. I remember seeing this when it first aired (I loved the first Martha Stewart series that aired on television, I think it was the best.) Anyway, this is a glimpse of her McCoy collection – and believe me, she has much, much more.

Here’s the link to the video.

Happy Wednesday.

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Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part One

April 14, 2015 at 9:51 am by Claudia

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A brief bit of McCoy Pottery history

McCoy was a family business, started by J.W. McCoy in Roseville, Ohio in 1899. In 1911, it merged with other companies and became the Brush-McCoy Pottery Co. In 1925, the McCoys sold their interest in the business and Brush-McCoy became Brush Pottery. However, during this time – in 1910 – Nelson McCoy started his Nelson McCoy Stoneware Company. In 1933 the company was renamed the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company.

in 1967, the company was sold to David Chase of the Mount Clemens Pottery Company, which was sold in 1974 to Lancaster Colony Corporation – Nelson McCoy, Jr. was President of the company during this time and all the pottery continued to carry the McCoy name.

In 1985, the company was again sold but eventually closed in 1990.

All of this history is reflected in the various marks on the pieces. I will try to point them out as we go.

My history with McCoy

I’ve always been aware of McCoy, especially in the form of the ubiquitous flower pots I used to see when I was growing up. But in about 2002, I started to noticing it in a different way. We were renting a little cottage in Westchester County, after having moved East. One of our neighbors, a young couple, asked us to feed their dogs while they were away. Because I had to go in their house, I noticed all these gorgeous pieces of pottery, some of them rather large, on the cabinets and furniture in the living room. It was McCoy.

Around the same time, there were several articles published about Martha Stewart’s extensive collection of McCoy. I became entranced with the designs and the glazes and the colors. And I ventured into the world of collecting McCoy Pottery.

In the beginning, I got a lot of my pieces on eBay. It was simply easier to find them there and I started to gather together a nice collection. I found I was drawn to the sherbet-like colors, rather than the darker pieces. In fact, those colors inspired a lot of the decorating choices in the cottage.

By the way, McCoy made lots of pottery, lots of cookie jars (there are some people who collect only the cookie jar; the most famous collector was Andy Warhol) and lots of utilitarian pieces made in the seventies that were…how do I say it?….less than attractive. I concentrate on what I consider to be the prettier pieces.

So. I decided to start with the McCoy pieces that are in the china cabinet in the den. Here we go.

4-13 MC first group

Two vases, a planting dish, and a bulb bowl.

4-13 MC birdplantingdish

The McCoy reference book calls this one Novelty Dish with Bird. Made around 1950, it also comes in a yellow-green combination, but you know I had to go with this one. I have two of these dishes – one is on my dresser upstairs. McCoy’s use of birds in designs is one of my favorite things about the line. This one was a gift from my friend Heidi.

4-13 greenvase

One of the very first pieces I purchased on eBay. Love this soft shade of green and the shape of the vase. The handles have a leaf and berry design. From around 1950.

4-13 coralvase

Coral double-handled vase. From 1948. A very graceful vase, I think – quite lovely. I can’t remember where or how I got it! Sorry.

4-13 turquoiseplanting dish

Another early acquisition – I was taken by the design of this bulb bowl; the diagonal lines and the circle and vine-like design running along the bottom. From 1947. Purchased on eBay.

4-13 turquoiseplanting dish mark

The mark on the bottom of this bulb bowl is the most common McCoy mark; sometimes it is accompanied by Made in the USA, or USA.

4-13 secondgroup

Three vases and a planting dish.

4-13 birdsberries2

The design of this vase is not unlike the previous green vase I showed you. This one has birds and berries on it – a frequent theme of McCoy Pottery. This is one side of the vase.

4-13 birdsberries3

And on the other side: cherries. This vase dates from the 1940s. I have two of them. One lives in the china cabinet and one lives on top of the white cabinet in the living room. Another early acquisition via eBay.

4-13 greenbirdsberriesvasemark

A variation on the mark, this time with Made in USA.

4-13 aquaplantingbowl

I love this planting bowl. I have two of them, one is in cream. You’ll see that later. Very Art Deco in style. I’m searching for more information, but I can’t seem to find it in my reference books. I’ll update this when I learn more. Found on eBay.

4-13 arcaturevasefront

One of my very favorite pieces, found on eBay. These are called Arcature vases. The two sides are open at the top, ready for water and a flower. Although, looking at this one, I think the design is enough and no flowers are needed! More of the McCoy three-dimensional birds. Let’s look more closely:

4-13 arcaturevasefrontupclose

Sigh.

4-13 arcaturevasefrontupcloseback

And from the back. These vases came in three different sizes – this one is the largest. From 1951.

4-13 aquabirdsberriesfanvase

I found this leaves and berries fan vase in a local shop a year or so ago. It is in great shape – such great shape that I worried it was a knock-off. It isn’t. It has one of my favorite marks on the bottom:

4-13 aquabirdsberriesfanvasemark

From the 1940s.

There’s the beginning of our tour, my friends. I’ll probably post this series every other day or so. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.

I also have a post you might be interested in Collecting McCoy Pottery: Some Tips From a McCoy Lover. Maybe I can entice you to start your own collection!

Happy Tuesday.

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Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part Three

Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part Two

Collecting McCoy Pottery, Part One

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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