Vintage Wednesday: Art Pottery

I recently bought a lovely swan vase. It's got the flat glaze of many of the art pottery pieces I have, and of course I love the swan theme. The vase has no readily seen identifying marks, so I put my investigating hat on and started researching the maker.

The easiest way to identify art pottery is to look for the mark on the bottom of the piece. Most of the more popular art potteries - such as Hull, McCoy, Roseville, Haeger, Van Briggle or Hall - have either the name or a mark particular to their company. McCoy and Roseville usually scrawl their name on the bottom. Hall has their name boxed. Van Briggle has what looks like a stylized double A (for founders Artus and Anne) in a box and is also sometimes signed by the artist who made the pot. But what do you do if your piece doesn't have an identifying mark?

Sometimes you can look at the color of the clay used to make the piece. You can also turn the piece over and you'll be looking at the "foot" of the piece. Some companies completely glaze the foot, but others leave a ring that's unglazed - this can be an identifying clue. Another clue could be the type of glaze used. Some companies have colors specific to their line that become familiar as you begin to see a number of pieces from that company. Sometimes the lines of the piece shout the maker - I especially this is true with Roseville or Van Briggle pieces.

There are a multitude of books available to help you identify art pottery, but I've found a good Internet search can help you narrow your identification. So that's what I did by searching "swan vase." Interestingly, there are several swan vases available from at least 8 different makers. Looking through the photos of these pieces, I found several confirming that my vase is a Haeger piece, possibly from the late 30s or early 40s. I'd have to go look in a Haeger book to be sure, but it makes sense given the glaze and look of the piece. Too bad Sherlock Holmes didn't have the Internet!