Thursday, September 24, 2009

I Can Be Classy. Quit Giggling!




I can be classy so stop your giggling! If there is one collection that I love and wish I could afford more of , it's my Roseville and Weller pottery collection. I LOVE anything from these two pottery companies! Their designs are so elegant and flowing.


Roseville pottery was initially started as a utilitarian ware company, making umbrella stands, flower pots and stoneware. As the years progressed more artistic designers came on board and Roseville became a popular pottery company with limited runs on certain designs. The majority of their designs are flowers or other outdoor plant life, they do have several vases that depict people. The prices for Roseville can be extremely high for even smallest pieces. I would suggest to the beginning collector that if you are okay with some cracks and don't  mind a little wear on the pottery,  buy a cheaper piece and then go from there.  One way to check to make sure you have Roseville is for the signature at the bottom. There are several marks depending on the time is was made. A stamp, a signature and wafer mark are a few ways to see what you have.


Another high end pottery is Weller. I adore Weller pottery. It usually has a more glossy finish compared to Roseville. Weller is more expensive because of the beautiful hand work designs .They also started as a utilitarian wear company with flower pots and cookware. Later Weller pottery became very popular with their Dicken's ware which included images of Charles Dicken's characters traced onto the clay and fired. It is unfortunate that they could not keep up with changing trends and eventually closed in the 1940's.


Collecting Roseville or Weller is not cheap. I was lucky enough to get the majority of these pieces from the same person .I would suggest that you do a little research and decide what design you like best and start with smaller more affordable pieces.  Definitely don't just go for the name, you want something that you love and can possibly hand down to future generations. 


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