Photo Blog...

Medalta vase #104 made 1930 - ??.  It was made in various sizes 7, 10, 12, 15, 18 and  24", with numerous colors and decorations.  Some of the vases have embossed decorations and other have the shape of the top the vase changed to a square type opening.

Enjoy the photos and ask questions.....

       And the Search Continues.......
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

A Quick Road Trip to Southern Alberta

We recently made a quick road trip into southern Alberta to pick up some pottery pieces that we had spoken for several months ago.  We made a quick stop at the Medalta Museum so I could take some photos to use as reference later.

There are Alberta Pottery pieces:

Inside the kiln is filled with crocks, butterchurns, water coolers and other stoneware pieces.

We asked and were taken back into the back storage area and also took a few photos there.  There have been lots of changes int he storage area since our last peak at the shelves and they have been busy photographing pieces and putting them up on the website. 

Athabaca Pottery in the back storeroom:

P.I.E. pieces from the back storeroom:

Jack Fuller pieces from the back storeroom....has anyone ever seen the dinosaur before?

Enjoy the photos and next time you head to Medicine Hat take the time to stop at the museum.



And the Search Continues...

And Then There was Electricity....

I grew up in a small town in the heart of the prairies the granddaughter of Russian Mennonites.  My Dad learned to speak English when he went to school and my Grossmama spoke very little English but always managed to make everyone understand what she wanted.  I remember when they finally got power in the farm yard where they lived, I was a teenager I think.  My Grossmama never used an electric stove until they moved off the farm and she was in her 70s by then.  I can only imagine the wonder that our ancestors experienced when they flipped the switch for the first time to light up their house.



Can you imagine the changes these women would have experienced in their life time??

Medalta produced lamps for many years in various shapes and colors, there are even cookie jars and vases that were made in to lamps.  One of the first colored pieces we bought was a matte green lamp and although we really like it we have steered clear of lamps.  We do have a few lamps, they are all stamped and we do not use any of them.  There are a few reasons we do not use them and the number one is that they would have to be rewired and I am afraid to break them so they are just decorations.

 " Lamp #9 is the earliest of the numbered Medalta lamps, who’s shape started as the hand made 4 ½" lamp. It was introduced in 1932, and was produced until 1937. Its height is 4 1/4" (109 mm), and it is a named lamp, the “Globe” lamp.  Most of these do not have an in-mould mark, and many are unmarked. All of the examples of this lamp I have examined have a circular casting ridge at the same position, about 1 3/4" up from the base, indicating that it was jigged in two pieces and then assembled. Assembly was probably done on a wheel, while the clay was still wet."

"Lamp #11 is the Beehive lamp. This lamp has not been seen with an embossed mark, but has been seen with the silver Medalta paper sticker, P.2. It also occurs in a number of classical Medalta glazes, including the multicolor spotted glaze. It is 5 5/8" (144 mm) high. The glaze
shown here is the Medalta orange spotted on brown glaze. This lamp was introduced in 1933 and continued in production until 1937." 








"Lamp #53 was introduced in 1938. In spite of its early introduction date, I have not seen this lamp in other than a solid color glaze. According to Ed Phillipson, the shape is based on vase shape #71. The height of the lamp is 190 mm (7/16").  It has also been seen with mark G.14.b. Colours seen include two greens, Crimson (red), and Chocolate (dark brown), and Helio Blue." 

"Lamp #428a and #428b, the early lamp is more bulbous than the redesigned lamp, and the base is higher on the later lamp. The shoulder is also more square on the later lamp. The later lamp is also slightly taller, with the heights being 9.9" (252 mm) for the early lamp and 10.3" (262 mm) for the later lamp. The handle detail is also different, with the early version having a handle that is thicker on the top than the bottom, like lamp #451.  Production was in 1940 and 1941, and possibly in 1945 and 1946 for the early lamp."

 

"Lamp #506 is referred to as the miniature of the post-war series of lamps. It would be a miniature of lamp #502. The three color glaze shown is typical of the lamps of this number. The lamp is marked No 506, and the oxide mark is a partial G.38.a. An almost identical lamp made in the USA (see page 47) has frequently been assumed to be this lamp. All the Medalta #506 lamps seen by the author have red flowers.  The height of the lamp is 7 7/8".  Introduced likely in 1947, this lamp shape was produced briefly in that oxide marked pieces usually have mark G.38.a, indicating production in the early post-war period."

"Lamp #24 is 8" tall and could have been included with the large lamps. Lamp #26, which has a height of 5 3/4" has the same basic shape. The records list this lamp as being 7 ½" high but this lamp is generally about 8" in height. This shape was introduced in 1934, and was produced until 1941. This is the longest known production of any Medalta lamp. This lamp is found with two different impressed mould marks, usually mark M.16, but occasionally mark M.18. As it was produced after 1939, it is occasionally found made with white clay. If it has an oxide stamp it is usually G.33.b." 





"They are hand painted, and their height is 6 5/8". The lamp has a closed base design.  The marks are G.9 (partial) and G.16.a. This is the Small Square Shouldered lamp of the Medalta records, produced in 1931 only."






The information on the lamps is from Medalta Lamps by Bruce Douglas.  I am slowly learning more about lamps fro mother collectors and from simply seeing them and going back to read about the shape, color and years produced.

The photos are all from our personal collection.  My thanks to the people that never fail to answer my questions and share their wealth of information with me!

And the Search Continues.....

Hycroft China.....is it the Poor Man's Collectible?

I was trying to decide on  topic for a new blog and because we just found some new teapots I decided that the focus this time would be Hycroft China Limited.  Teapots, no matter what kind of china or dishes they are, would be an add on to the place settings so there are not as many around as there things like dinner plates.  I find that I tend to like the kitchen things like teapots and cookie jars I am not sure why that is....perhaps it is the memories that those pieces elicit....time spent at one of my grandparents homes.  There were many hours spent having tea parties and baking cookies with my English grandmother and an equal number of hours spent baking pastry, bread and buns with my German grandmother.  My German grandmother would always let me dunk my cookies in her coffee but my English grandmother never let me do that!










Hycroft China Limited was named by Marwell when he took over the Medicine Hat Potteries plant in 1951.  Malcolm McArthur suggested he rename the plant and so it was named after one of Marwell's west coast ventures.  However 18 months later he could not make a success of the plant and it was sold to Harry Veiner.










Harry Veiner was at the time, the Mayor of Medicine Hat, operated a green house business as well as a ranch.  One of the first things he did was trim the staff numbers and set about putting the pottery back into a profitable business.  His authoritarian style did not sit well with everyone and several months later Malcolm McAthur left the pottery, he took along with him some of the experienced workmen and quickly settled into Alberta Potteries at Redcliff.



Hycroft had a varied line of products and excelled at advertising items.  The hand decorated pieces were pretty much phased out by 1985, it is believed that if you could list all of the specially named pieces that Hycroft produced it would be a larger number than Medalta produced and they are reported to have produced 700 different ones.









Daizy: No Pattern Number   (Copied with permission of the writer)
The Daizy pattern is listed in the Hycroft records from 1964-1970, and on the invoices it is usually listed as Daisy not Daizy as on the Hycroft backstamp.  Even though it was sold for some seven years, it apparently was not that popular a pattern judging by the number of times you find it listed in the Hycroft invoices; and, furthermore, you do not find it in the marketplace very often.  Just recently I saw the first ebay auction of this pattern and that piece, a 6½” side plate sold for about $7.75 Canadian. As is so often the case with smaller pieces, the vendor did not know the pattern name as it was not included as part of the backstamp.  Daizy is found on the round coupe style of dishes and is listed as one of  Hycroft’s hand decorated patterns.  Placed on plain white plates, the pattern consists of  a pair of 4-petal yellow flowers, each with brownish centers partly extending into the petals, and each with a branching black stem. The flowers were likely put on the plate using a leadfoil stencil, while the black stems were drawn on by hand.










Game Birds  1955-1979

Little Red Hen  1956-1958










I have included a few different photos of Hycroft pieces, many are not marked but were made by a person that worked at the plant.

As always the joy is truly in the search and the people we meet.  Please add your comments of photos of Hycroft pieces you may have in your own collection.  The photos in the blog are from our own private collection.  We look forward to comments!

The Search Continues...