Summer of No Travel...

                                         

I think all of us have experienced a very different spring and early summer than we have experienced in our lifetime.  Vacation plans are cancelled, people are told not to gather in large groups, stay home, wash your hands and possibly even wear a mask.  I picked a great time to be off work for a few months and have gone back to work just in time to be told we must wear a mask the entire work day.  

We have had the pleasure of visiting the Medalta Museum in Medicine Hat several times and today's blog is compilation some photos of the visits.  On one of the visits we had a guided tour and recorded some of the conversation and stories, we look forward to doing it again soon.

I think most collectors have a mentor or someone they look to for some guidance and answers to questions when they are unable to find an answer anywhere else.  I like to think that over the years of collecting that these people have gone on to be our friends and we get together and share stories and laughter.

We have discovered things like virtual antiques shows and found hundreds of online auctions with new ones showing up every day.  I am sure the world of actually attending a live auction will be a thing of the past and everything will become electronic.  

We have used Facetime to stay in contact with family and the telephone is used for voice calls now more often that before.

The blog photos today are taken in Medicine Hat at the museum.  I am also including a link to a Facebook group that is having virtual antiques shows every couple of weeks and has been quite successful.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/942676159137439/

And the link to the Medalta Museum in Medicine Hat, be sure to check out the online data base of the collection they on the page.  https://medalta.org/visit/museum/    https://medalta.pastperfectonline.com/   

We are looking forward to the world returning some semblance of normal but until then we will scour the virtual world looking for new pieces to add to our collections.  

Until next time......The Search Continues...

Kitchen Things

I cannot imagine a world without Tupperware type dishes for food storage but in my grandparents time there was no such thing.  There were of course, pottery pieces that served the same purpose.  We have all seen the Pyrex fridge dishes and Medalta and Medicine Hat Potteries each made something to serve the same purpose.  Some of them I think are too pretty to actually use to store food stuff in but I am sure that is what they were used for many years go.  Earthenware itself would stay cool so it made sense that they made pieces to store food.  I remember my Grossmama having crocks of things in the cellar, some of which at the time I found to be very disgusting!  I can remember going to get a jar of pickles and peaking in some of the crocks which she used to preserve Hams, sausage and sauerkraut and other things.  There was always a crock full of drinking water from the well  with a "dipper" hanging on the side and I remember the coolness of the water from the crock even though there was no fridge to cool it.  Now we collect all these pieces and treat them like a prize and put them on a shelf to admire.

The photos today are Medalta and Medicine Hat Potteries (the blue fridge dishes).  All pieces are part of our collection.

Like most of you I am sure, we are ready to get out and start looking for some pieces of whatever it is that we collect.  In our province everything is starting to open slowly and in time we will all be back to a normal pace and able to explore again.  We did find a unique concept for a virtual Antique Show and it was delightful.  There were many amazing pieces for sale and we actually picked up a small jug to add to our collection. The next Virtual show is the first weekend in June and will have 30 vendors each posting 15 items for show and sale.  It has kept us entertained and allowed for many people to add to their collections without leaving their house.

Stay safe and healthy!

And the Search Continues....

Ogilvie's Royal Household Flour Advertising

This blog is an article written by Mr. Ron Getty, who has been very generous in sharing his vast knowledge of Medalta pottery with many collectors.  I am honored to call him a friend and he has always made time to answer questions and share any information he has about the Alberta Potteries.

                                                                                                    

And the Search Continues.....                                                                         

Wall Pockets/Vases

There are a few different wall pockets or vases, I have seen them listed as one or the other so I don't think one is right and the other is wrong, it is just a personal perspective.

Medalta Potteries and Medicine Hat Potteries both made wall pockets sometime in their years of operation.  Like any other pieces of pottery they made there are varying colors and designs.


Medalta Potteries Wall Vase No. 99 about 7.75 inches produced in 1940-??  Same wall pocket but they look very different because of the glaze used.

Also made by Medalta Potteries.....I have no other information other than the photos.

Medicine Hat Potteries Wall Pockets:  Wreath wall vase. 

The C-number is usually impressed in the back of this vase.  The leaf shaped vase with a berry-like cluster at the top is 9 1/2" high x 4 1/4" wide. 

There is another vase with just the number 107 impressed in the back (the pink and white wall pockets in the photo) and my guess is that it is later in date, perhaps coming out after the Great War and perhaps replacing an earlier design.  The wall pocket is 10 1/2" high x 5 1/2 " wide.                                                 


                                                                                                                       

     

 C-106 Modernistic wall vase.  This cylindrical vase which does have the C- number impressed in the back stands about 9 3/4" high.

Like always the joy is in the search for the pieces and once they are home they are enjoyed but then the hunt is on for the next piece.                                                                                                           

 As always all the photos are from our own collection.  The information in italics is copied with the writers permission.                                                                                                                               

And the Search Continues.....                                                                                                               

    

                                                                   

The Things We Look At

A couple years ago we bought a fairly large collection from someone that had been employed in the one of the pottery factories.  The pieces are diverse in nature and most are not marked.  As a new collector years ago we may not have purchased such a collection because few of the pieces are marked with a stamp from the pottery but we recognized the unique features of the pieces and had seen many of them in photos or heard about them from other collectors.

Here is a list of pottery plants:

Medalta Potteries Factory:
1912-1914: Medicine Hat Pottery Company Limited
1915-1924: Medalta Stoneware Limited
1924-1954: Medlata Potteries Limited
1958:          New Medalta Ceramics
1960-1966: Sunburst Ceramics Limited

Clark's Factory
1916-1922: Gas City Pottery Limited
1922-1924: Canada Pottery

Alberta Potteries Factory:
1931-1936: Alberta Potteries Limited (Jesse W. Wyatt)
1936-1938: Albert Potteries Limited (Perry and Matuska)
1939:          Provincial Industrial Enterprises or P.I.E.
1941-1966: Alberta Potteries Limited (J. Harlan Yuill)
1966-1986 Medalta Potteries (1966) Limited

Medicine Hat Potteries' Factory:
1939-1955: Medicine Hat Potteries
1955-1989: Hycroft China Limited

All photos are from our collection.  The Spaniels are from a different person's whose husband worked at the factory.  The texture of the clay is quite different from the clay used by the other potteries but the spaniels were made in Medicine Hat, one of them was a gift from her husband when he worked in one of the plants.

I hope everyone has a wish list ready for Santa and that he manages to find that elusive piece of pottery that you have been looking.  Merry Christmas to all and good wishes 2020!

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

Preserving our Past

I am of the age that I find myself saying "when I was a kid" and yet I remember how annoyed I was when my parents and grandparents said things like that.  As I get ready to start thinking about retirement I find myself looking back at how we did things when I was young and all the things I learned from grandparents and parents.  My Grossmama always made sauerkraut, a Mennonite lady that truly believed if you couldn't make it you didn't need to eat it, in a huge crock and sometimes had pickles in a crock in the cellar.  Although I don't do that I do remember pounding cabbage and waiting for it to ferment enough to can.  For most us now crocks are largely decorative and are not used for food processing.

It is interesting to research how and when things were made and where they were produced.  For us it is keeping the history alive that keeps us looking for the next piece of pottery.  It has been a fairly quiet summer on the collecting front, it is not that we were not looking just that we never saw anything.  For a change this year we traveled into eastern Canada and I was surprised to not see anything other than an odd crock or Gaylord piece in any of the dozens of antique/flea markets we went to.

The photos in the blog today are the main books I use for reference material and I have notes written in them and marks beside certain information...they are well used.  Ron Getty has several books that are sometimes available at the Museum in Medicine Hat and the book by Richard and Jean Symonds I think I actually found on an online auction site.  We don't collect lamps but there is also a book available that has lamp information.

There have been many people that have also been a great resource for us and we cannot thank them enough.  Although many collectors are helpful there are lots of collectors that are fairly silent and do not share information easily, it takes time to meet them and build a rapport. 

I have added a couple pieces that we picked up early in the summer.  As fall is upon us there is a whole new set of antique show and sales for us to check out and keep us out of trouble, once winter gets here and it gets cold I just may hibernate until spring. 

Here is a blog for everyone to check out:  http://www.editingluke.net/2019/09/clay-creativity-comeback-documentary.html

Until next time.....happy hunting!

And the Search Continues......