In the Beginning........

One of the first things we bought from an internet site was rather large and something we had not seen before and it was almost the last "crock" like piece we added to the collection and is almost the last "crock" like piece we have left.

Then came the green lamp that we found at a local auction held once a week that we just happened to go to one evening.  The lamp base was covered with paper but had been opened to check for a mark and sure enough it was marked Medalta, so after a few more bids than anyone else home it came.










So then we decided no more big crocks or butter churns and slowly we made the switch, I must admit the 1 gallon crocks were the last to go simply because they were smaller but also we had fun trying to find as many different stamps in the 1 gallon as we could, we had 14 before they were all gone.

Once we found the hand painted pieces, advertising and all the brilliant colorful glazes there was no going back!  Large and small, one color and multi-color they are beautiful.







We were encouraged to photograph each item in our collection so one weekend I decided to do exactly that and it took me almost the entire day.  Everything had to be taken out of its spot, dusted off and put in front of the camera.  In many photos you will see a yellow measuring stick so that there is photographic record of the size of each piece.  Once the photos were all taken and checked for lighting, etc it was time to get them printed, with so many to do I found the least expensive place to get them printed and almost 500 prints later we were set.  The next step was get them all in albums and try to remember what our investment in each piece was, that was and still is quite a job.  So to those just starting to collect do the photos and recording before you have 400-500 pieces to do as it is a daunting job!

And the search continues............

Love of the Past

There are times I wonder if I was born in the wrong century as I find the things from a time gone by truly fascinating.  First of all how did so many delicate pieces of paper items, fine china and pottery survive over the course of that last century.  There is so much to learn from the past and the joy of finding a special piece to add to a collection is exhilarating.

A few years ago we started collecting and we collected everything we found interesting and very soon our house was bursting at the seams so we had to decide what we were really interested in collecting.  I had a real interest in Medalta Pottery simply because it was Canadian and better yet Western Canadian with the pottery being made in Medicine Hat, Alberta and the clay coming from Eastend, Saskatchewan.  So crocks, butter churns and water coolers it was, at one point we have over a dozen 1 gallon crocks all with different stamps.

Then one day we came across a green Medalta lamp and the focus changed!

We have had so much fun hunting down the next piece and building a colorful collection of beautiful pieces of Canadian pottery.  There are vases, lamps, pitchers, flower frogs, figurines, nursery rhyme children's dishes, beautiful hand painted pieces that are each unique, animal planters, miniatures, advertising items, plates, teapots, trivets and amazing cookie jars.

The Medalta plant in Medicine Hat had its ups and downs over the course of time and there are several books and articles written about the history of the pottery in Canada.  Pieces are dated by the stamp they are marked with and in fact there are many pieces that are not stamped at all, so it is a matter of seeing the different pieces and looking closely so you know what you are looking for.

And the Search Continues.....................................