The heat continues here in the Northeast (and not only here). I go outside to water the plants about three times a day, then it’s back to the A/C. I end up feeling restless.
I want to share some Roseville Pottery resources and information that will be helpful if you’re considering buying a piece or two. There are sources online that will explain marks and the history of Roseville Pottery. A simple Google search will bring them up.
Reference Books
You know me. I like to research and learn as much as I can about the things I love to collect. So I have books about egg cups, McCoy Pottery, Bakelite and Roseville Pottery. Here are three of the books I consult:
The Collectors Encyclopedia of Roseville Pottery
Warman’s Roseville Pottery
Warman’s Companion: Roseville Pottery (this is essentially the same as the larger book, but it’s portable.)
I’ve had these for several years and I don’t know if they’ve been updated recently. (Check Amazon.) If they haven’t, the price range you see will not be accurate. And frankly, nothing that wasn’t written in 2016 will be accurate. What these do have are lots of color photos of the various patterns and helpful information as to when they were manufactured and what marks were used.
I found this handy book last year – you can get it on Amazon and eBay. This is updated every year, so it’s a valuable reference for current prices. It’s simply what it says; a list, by pattern and number, of the price range for each piece of Roseville. This now lives right by my chair in the den. I consult it all the time. Priced at $9.95. Totally worth it.
This booklet, in combination with my picture books, is all I need.
Marks
There’s not a lot of consistency as to marks. Some of the earlier pieces had foil stickers and no incised marks. Eventually they began to be marked “Roseville” with the pattern number below. In 1940, many of the pieces began to be marked: Roseville, U.S.A., with the corresponding number for that piece. These marks tend to be raised. Here are some examples:
Roseville, U.S.A. 63-8″ – this mark is on the bottom of my pink peony vase.
The bottom of one of the Clematis pieces. Note the long tail on the R, the slanted, Art Deco-style letters, and the flourish on the ‘e.’
I know this one is hard to see, but it’s an example of an earlier pattern that has “Roseville” and the number, but no U.S.A. This is on the bottom of my Cosmos vase. That’s because this was produced after 1935 but before 1940. However, the long tail on the R and the tail on the ‘e’ remain the same as what you saw on the other pieces. This one is incised, not raised.
Reproductions/Fakes
As to fakes or reproductions: there is quite a bit of information online about determining whether a piece is a reproduction. After collecting for a number of years, I can usually tell just by eyeing a piece. I do have an example of a reproduction to share with you. When Sonja sent me a few pieces of Roseville several years ago, she included one that was questionable. She suspected it was a reproduction. Here it is:
This is a reproduction of the Fuschia pattern. There are a couple of things that I see immediately: the glaze on the front and the back has a bit too much variation in color. The other side of this is a darker shade of brown. When I hold it, it doesn’t have the weight and heft of a Roseville piece. It’s much lighter. Roseville was made from the rich clay found in Ohio.
This is, by the way, a much better reproduction than many I’ve seen. Let’s look at the mark.
There have always been fakes or reproductions of certain pottery lines. They are most often made in other countries and imported to the United States. At some point, U.S. Customs got fed up and ruled that U.S.A. could no longer be part of the mark on these pieces. There are fakes that do use U.S.A., but not of recent vintage.
This one uses a number that is highly questionable. Why? The ‘C’ isn’t part of a real Roseville mark. Maybe it stands for ‘copy’ or ‘China’? There is a mark for the corresponding Fuchsia piece in my reference book: 892-6″. But this mark flips the ‘9.’ As for the lettering, it’s an entirely different style than that used by Roseville. Reminiscent of the style, but quite different.
It’s a nice little vase, but it’s not Roseville.
You have to be careful when searching on eBay or Etsy. Most reputable dealers will list pieces as reproductions, but not everyone does. Some sellers are simply dishonest. Some honestly don’t know that it’s a reproduction. Some sellers will say they think it’s a reproduction, but aren’t sure. As you look and study, you’ll begin to develop an eye for that sort of thing.
I searched for some Roseville on Etsy yesterday and it seems to be more realistically priced at the moment than the Roseville on eBay. If you buy on Etsy, you pay the price listed. If you use eBay, depending on the listing, you get the thrill of bidding. It’s up to you!
I hope this helps, my friends. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.
We’ll close with some real flowers:
Happy Sunday.
Hi Claudia. I’ve enjoyed learning about Roseville. I’m a collector of all sorts of things and I get around when I’m searching but I don’t think I have ever seen a piece of Roseville in my travels in Australia. Now that I’ve said that I will probably see lots !! . I would love to see your Bakelite collection if you ever feel like sharing it. Cheers from julie in Australia
Good idea, Julie. I share it a long time ago, but it’s time for an update!
Thanks for the Roseville pottery education, Claudia. I don’t collect pottery, but do admire it, and enjoy seeing photos of yours. We’re supposed to have a heat wave, but the weather reports have been saying that for a couple of weeks now. The interior has been very hot, but still just warm and pleasant by the coast. Stay cool where you are….go have ice cream or something!
Thanks, Wendy! Have a good day.
Because of your suggestion, I found myself on Etsy for a bit. I found an arts and crafts pattern…very pretty, but, because it is rare, was quite expensive. Oh well, maybe in another lifetime! We keep getting these violent thunderstorms here, but the heat and humidity are still persistent. Stay cool! ;)
I wish we’d get some rain! The rivers are very low at the moment!
It was very interesting learning about roseville pottery. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
You’re welcome, Doris. Thank you for appreciating the posts!
My mom collected china teacup sets [cups & saucers] and Depression glass, but very casually. She never had a large collection or became a really-educated like you are, Claudia. Probably because until six kids were out of the house, there simply wasn’t much time – or any $$ – for it. She would have enjoyed that aspect of it too. But she did learn a good amount by talking with sellers & dealers. I wish I had a $ for every time Mom & I stood around, yakking it up with sellers at craft shows, festivals, flea markets. She is definitely the one who gave me respect for old and antique things. Keep low & stay cool for now…😎
Staying cool, Janet, though we did go out to an antique store – I just had to get out for a bit. Back to watering the garden!
I’ve known about the Roseville fakes; Mother alerted me. It’s not so easy to spot; have to be knowledgeable as you’ve become. Glad that the small collection from my husband’s family is the real deal; don’t have to worry about it. Lots of good info here, Claudia; thanks. I see so much knock-off Corningware and Pyrex at the thrift stores (although that’s on the practical side of collectibles!).
We’re out of excessive-heat/red-flag warnings here today, finally, but it IS 90 degrees at 1pm PST; however, this time yesterday, we were 8 or 9 degrees hotter. Will take whatever breaks we can get. The sun burns ALL day long and, of course, the days are so much longer in summer. BAKING in SoCalif, like so much of the country coast to coast this weekend. There’s a terrible fire burning in an area north of L.A. ; we know people there whose homes are threatened. It’s so dangerously hot for the firefighters. And rescue folks have had to move a LOT of farm animals and exotic animals (less urbanized part of the county; some gentleman ranches; a zoo-type park/refuge I think). So hard on everybody involved. Sending prayers…
No terrible wildfires here, but it’s very, very dry, the rivers are very low and the grass is turning brown. It hit at least 94 here today. I feel like I spend most of my day watering the young plants that are growing in the memorial garden and the hanging and potted plants on the porch. Prayers being sent to those firefighters and all who are in danger.
My husband had to drive to Santa Clarita late yesterday for a job and he said the traffic was unbelievable; a lot of people fleeing. So, it was weird going in, when so many people were going out (I did NOT want him to go at all!!). Air quality just awful due to the smoke. He took some photos and there was ash all over our car when he got home late; horrible, horrible wildfire. One lady was interviewed on TV who said she couldn’t get out all her horses so they’d have no choice but to open the gates and let them run free to find their own safety…but where(?), when the whole place is on fire. The family we know in this general area had to be evacuated; I hope they’ll still have a home when this is over. The fire has been widespread and changes direction with the wind, so it’s been unpredictable. A lot of stuff is out this way on large acreages in the hills…old movie sets, that big-cat preserve called Shambala which is veteran actress Tippi Hedren’s 30+ year charitable endeavor; another wildlife sanctuary; a dog rescue organization. Massive subdivisions/planned communities but also homes on bigger ‘lots’ (people loving the ‘country life’ on the edge of the big city of L.A.). The university which is Disney’s California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) is out this way (northern part of L.A. County); College of the Canyons (on over a hundred acres of hills); Princess Cruises corporate HQ. The Santa Clarita area/valley where this fire is, has gotten very ‘built up’ in the past 25 years or so. It’s inland, so it gets really hot weather. I remember from my childhood when NOTHING was out there except a lot of arid mountains and dry valleys; the area just exploded in population over time. Why you’d pass there in the first place, years ago, was that it’s right on the 5 Interstate which is the major north-south route for all of California besides the coastal 101 highway. (The 101 is scenic; the 5 is not!)
Oh , I know that area a bit and certainly have driven north on the 5 and the 101. It’s been built up so much that I’m sure that so many more people are in danger than would have been many years ago. Of course, wildlife is always in danger. One of the sanctuaries I know of the Farm Sanctuary or Farm Animal Sanctuary evacuated on Saturday. It’s very, very frightening.
I’ve learned so much about Roseville from you. I love my collection and I got a couple of books off ebay. I am still hoping to find other reference books that you listed.
hugs,
Linda
It’s fun to learn about our collecting passions!