Big........Small

On one of our visits to the Medalta Museum in Medicine Hat we saw the miniatures that are on display in their collection, that really piqued our interest in searching for the small pieces of pottery.  The fun is in the hunting for a specific piece and once it goes on the shelf you admire it for a few days and then it is on to the next one, and so it was with the miniatures.  We are hoping to make a connection with other collectors of Medalta, Medicine Hat Pottery, Alberta Pottery, Hycroft or anyone else interested in Canadian Pottery.









The thing about collecting is that it really gets to be almost like an illness, we plan our great adventures around the time and place that we might find pieces to add to our collection!  One of our last pieces was actually at an auction sale in our little hamlet and we didn't go for the start of the sale and missed it!  That was a day that we were happy that someone we knew picked it up for us!








Please leave us a comment and let us know what your thoughts are about Canadian pottery or collecting.



We are just back from an adventure and will share our new treasures soon.









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

Same Vase.........Different Vase

We have photos of our collection that we keep with us in a digital format so that we can take a quick look and see what we have, mostly so we don't end up with many identical pieces.  There are different glazes and decorations that were done on the same vase mold.  Some of the vases have a number marked on the bottom of them but if there isn't a number we have a book we refer to that has the vases photographed and lists the number, size and years the vase was produced.












We do have several of vase #91 with only 2 of them being the same color and 2 of them being the same color and decoration.  They all look the same but if you examine them closely some are much heavier than others or there are bubble spots in the glaze or there might even be a paper label on the bottom of one of them.








The fun is trying to find each of the vases in all the sizes and colors you can find.










Another thing we found in several colors are the ball pitchers, tumblers and toothpick holders.  So now the challenge is to find all three sizes of ball pitchers in each of the colors and then the tumbler to match.


A great place to visit for both research and just to have a visual image of all the piece out there is the Medalta Museum in Medicine Hat.  There is a large collection of examples of the products made by all the companies that operated in Medicine Hat over many years.  The Friends of Medalta have done a great job keeping the history of the pottery companies alive.










The fun is the time spent hunting down a special piece and the people we meet along the way!





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

We Just Have Fun

We collect for fun and have learned lots from people with so much more knowledge and experience handling pieces than we have.  They have always made themselves available to answer questions or state an opinion when we have asked for help.  There are also books written with lots of information to help the collector.




There are pieces that we have all heard about or saw pictures of, that we dream of adding to our collection, or pieces that are not marked and no one would know that they were Medalta if another collector did not tell you.

It has certainly been our pleasure to meet a couple people that have been very helpful for us and we do email and talk to whenever we have questions.  We have shared photos of our collection just to see if something new showed up.





One of the reasons we thought about doing something like this blog is try and connect with other collectors or people that are interested in the pottery made in Medicine Hat.

Our collection is growing and we are more particular now about the condition of the pieces we get.  There are still some pieces that we have picked up that are a little battered but usually they are advertising or something special.  When we started we picked up almost anything that came along but that has changed and we laugh now at some of the things we thought were priceless!  The time spent searching and the people we meet are always a highlight for us, to find a special piece to bring home is a bonus.

There are collectors that have been collecting for many years, with large collections or that collect specific items, I have had the pleasure of viewing a couple of other collections and it is so interesting and I learn something every single time.  Although we are starting to gather some very nice pieces by no means am I an expert!








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