Before I move on to the next section of McCoy Pottery, I want to take a moment to thank you for your kind words on the anniversary of my mother’s passing yesterday. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. It was an emotional day, with tears and memories and conversations with my husband, my sister, and my father. In the middle of the afternoon, Don took me out and we walked around some antique shops and had some of our favorite donuts. That helped a little. As did your words of sympathy.
Back to the McCoy. There’s a bit more to share with you from the kitchen. And an interesting McCoy ‘mistake.’ Let’s start with two questionable finds:
This vase sits on top of the cupboards. I’ve never seen it in any McCoy reference book (that in itself doesn’t mean anything – plenty of pieces are not in those books) but I have seen it being offered for sale for years as ‘unmarked McCoy.’ There seems to be some sort of consensus that it’s McCoy. It has the USA mark on the bottom. Some McCoy had only the USA mark. For some reason, I couldn’t get a very good picture of it, the glaze looks more uneven than it is. It matches the standard yellow McCoy glaze. I’m going to assume it’s McCoy.
But it might be something else.
This one. I love it, it looked an awful lot like a McCoy design, but it turns out it’s slightly different. It’s not McCoy. Maybe Shawnee? Maybe Haeger? Nevertheless, I love it and it lives with its McCoy friends on top of the cupboards, where it seems to fit right in.
These, I assure you, are McCoy.
On the left: I bought this one early on in my collecting days. More modern in look, the style and the chartreuse color sold me. It’s from the 1950s. (I wasn’t happy with the individual photo of this piece, so I’m going to stick with this shot.)
This is the peacock vase. I think it’s gorgeous. The design is on both sides of the vase.
It’s from 1948.
I’m not usually a fan of the dark green glaze McCoy used, but I fell in love with this vase many years ago. I love the vaguely Art Deco design; the handles, the flowers and stems which seem to be blowing in the wind that are on the front of the vase. It’s called the Modern Vase in one of my books. I’ve seen it since I purchased it in other colors as well. It’s from 1951.
This is a McCoy wall pocket, in the form of a cuckoo clock. It was made in a few different color combinations, with both standard numbers and roman numerals. Because it was a wall pocket, it was easily damaged. If this was in pristine condition, it would be worth over $100. But it’s damaged. You can see where the top right edge has been glued together. A nicely done repair. And the little bird has a chip on the edge of his left wing. I probably wouldn’t have seriously considered buying this, but my friend Heidi was out shopping for her now-defunct shop and saw it. She called me on the phone and talked me into it and I’m happy she did. We’ve come to love it. It lives on the side of one of the kitchen cupboards, right by the sink. From the mid-1950s.
More McCoy – from upstairs – on Monday.
I leave again for Hartford this evening and have another all day long rehearsal tomorrow. I won’t get back until 9 or 10 Sunday night. I’m happy for the work, but it’s tiring, this driving back and forth. I’m used to staying there and not having to commute.
Happy Saturday.
