I found this weird little ceramic vase and it looks like it has a Roycroft logo incised in the bottom. The glaze is specatular. It is a well designed vase with flowers cascading off the sides and very small. There is a serial number above the logo covered by this price tag. I tried to get it off to look underneath, but no luck.

I found in a shop run by an elderly couple that sells 2nd hand clothing. (We were looking for formal evening gowns for my daughter's HS dance--hey, she wears it once . . .) I started looking at the collection of weird stuff on top of the racks and found this vase. It is selling for $6.00 at 20% off for their winter sale.

I plan to go back there next week with my camera, ruler and sketch book. The colors do not go with my collection of pottery, but if it is the real "McCoy", I could sell it for a profit. It is very well made and I can't believe that that little vase found its way to a shop like that.

Bev.

Bev-

I would buy it NOW! Its only $6 and at worst, you could re sell it at a yard sale if it isn't anything special. You wouldn't want to see some other person take it to the Antiques Roadshow and find out its worth gazillions!!!

Donna

In the twenties they made tableware called Buffalo Pottery that looks like this:


...and they also sold small crocks and pots that look like this:


From your description, it doesn't sound like an old Roycroft piece but maybe its a contemporary piece from one of the people called the Roycroft Renaissance who use a double R version of the cross and orb, or maybe its just a look alike mark - some people confuse the Rookwood mark with Roycroft. Just buy it and post some pictures

Ok, the shop is closed on Sunday. I will drop by on Monday.

I went to my local antique store today and looked through their books on Roycroft. It is not the same logo exactly. I found no variation in the Roycoft reproduction catalogs to account for the difference. (The Roycroft logo does evolve over time but it always has the orb and the cross.)

This vase has the same double cross at the top, no R's and a long trapezoid for the bottom instead of the circle. It is well made and did not have the look of pottery piece made from a mold. It was made from high quality porcelain (white clay)and the logo and serial number were very crisply indented in the clay.

I don't know which shop used that logo. Any ideas? Heck, it may not even be A & C!

Bev.

bump

So Bev, did you go back and pick this up or what??? Is this by chance the mark:

If it is , and you haven't picked it up , then RUN down there right now and snatch it, and report back and I'll let you know what you have

There was no bell but everything else is perfect even down to the brown color of glaze--same color as the main color of glaze on the outside of the pot. The mark is stamped into the porclain clay and there is no glaze on the bottom of the small vase.

Where there variations on that mark? I have looked through all my books that have pottery marks and checked a website from England. No luck with anything that was even a little bit close.

No, I didn't buy it. I had to pay for a bunch of unexpected stuff with school for my kids and buy two new tires for my car. OUCH!If you really think that this could be something, they I'll go down and get it this morning.

Ok, I have talked myself into buying it--if it is still there. I hope you're right. It is a neat little vase, it is just not my style nor color scheme.

Bev.

Uh, you did say it was just $6, right? Go get it!

Actually, it was $2.95. Then, 20% off that.

The logo was a bit different than I remember. It is very faint on the off white glazed clay bottom and it will be hard for my camera to pick it up. But I will try to take pictures tomorrow. (Got to pay attention to the kids--it's Saturday--the day we do some fun stuff.)

the serial number is:
4234
00 (centered below it)
the logo is:
an owl sitting on a perch or a bell above a tapezoid with a cross inside the trapezoid. It is all connected with a single vertical line.

It was not made by a form. I will take it to an artist friend of my today who is a professional potter. She can tell me more about how it was made.

Bev.

The mark seems to change a bit each time - now there's an owl involved! Well who knows, but the logos I posted above are for the Mission Inn in Riverside CA, and based on your previous description about the Roycroft similarity and the trapezoid I though maybe this was it. If it is by chance something associated with the Inn then it might be a sleeper.

Van Briggle chamber stick $1700 at Craftsman/Rago


Stickley Brothers pot at Craftsman/Rago $3500


more info:

http://www.missioninn.com/

http://www.missioninnmuseum.com/home/index.htm

..looks like quite the place, with lots of history...

Hey Bev-

Did you ever get that vase?

Donna

Yes, I did get that vase. I took pictures and my card is stuck in my camera. Can't get it out to read the photo's. I am a little peeved. So, no pictures.

Anyway, here is a better description.

It is 6 3/4 inches tall. The bottom base measures 3 1/4 inches while the opening flares out to 3 3/4 inches. The is white porcelain clay with a light pea green base glaze topped by a combination of deep brown/purple, orange/yellow and red. An iron ore type of a deep red/orange glase highlights sections of the handles and the center of one trumpet like
flower at the top of a bouquet. The design on the front and the back of the vase are the same. The flower motifs in the center of the vase and the grape like design that cascades from the lip of the flared top of the vase--are all raised. It is kind of a bas-relief.

It is a neat little vase. I regret that I can't post a picture. But the mark in not the ones that everyone has so kindly posted.

I have checked data bases on the web for marks like this one and have found nothing. The owl or bell sits on top of the trapezoid. In the center of the trapezoid in an inverted cross that divides the space in half vertically.

Thanks for all your help. I may have to buy a new camera because mine is ancient for a digital. I will post pictures when I get this camera problem resolved.

Bev.

Here is the shop mark for the mystery vase. (finally a working camera and working computer)

Bev.

shop mark

Here are pictures of the mystery vase. Any comments would be appreciated.

Bev.

Here is the side view. Sorry, I can't figure up how to gang up the photos.

Bev.

Here is a another view of the mystery vase.

Bev.

Hi. Stumbled across this thread on the internet and joined the group. Your vase is German. The mark is Marzi and Remy.

By any chance, you have any idea of dates? I will do a web search for the name. But thank you so much for the info. I really did not know what to make of this vase.

Bev.

Well, I did a web search. The vase was made by a West German pottery company located in the Hohr-Grensahausen region of Germany. That mark was used from 1879-1964. I have found no similar vases but plenty of Steins and references to the Bauhaus pottery (1920-25) and the German Jugendstil movement in the early 1900's. The rest of what I found is in German--not a language that I can read.

It is not Bauhaus, but it could be Art Nouveau. I know nothing about a German Arts and Crafts movement. I don't know what German A & C pottery would look like. This vase does remind me of some of the organic forms and rich colors of wallpaper, tapestry, and rugs done by the English artist, William Morris. This vase is not attributed to Morris but it has that taint of influence or some kind of a vague link to that style.

I did find out the West German pottery was a great influence on all of Europe from 1900 to mid Century. By the 1950's-60's, a lot of the stuff was for tourists. But the earlier pottey is collectable and has some value.

Bev.