Value of art pottery depends on its ‘production’

Art pottery in the United States was first made in Cincinnati in the 1870s. The pottery was hand-thrown and hand-decorated, so each piece was unique. The successful American potteries became larger and hired specialists to shape, design and decorate art wares.

Experts say the art pottery movement ended by the 1930s, when studio potters began working alone or in small groups to make unusual pieces, and larger pottery companies turned to mass production.

Rookwood was one of the first, and probably the most famous of the U.S. art potteries. It was open from 1880 to 1967, then closed and reopened in 2006. Rookwood made art pottery and what is now called “production wares” during its first life. Production pieces were mass-produced commercial wares that were less expensive because they required less labor. Pieces included small molded bookends, ashtrays, figurines, candlesticks and vases. A single-color matte glaze was usually used, and there was no hand-painting.

Because the shape was formed in a mold and an overall glaze was used, the pieces were not unique. Collectors today pay high prices for many pieces of early Rookwood. The best of the art pottery sells for tens of thousands of dollars; production pieces sell for much less, often less than a few hundred dollars.

Q: Someone told me my footstool with a revolving top is a “tatting stool.” The top is padded velvet. What’s a tatting stool?

A: Tatting is a process similar to knitting and crocheting that involves knotting and looping a piece of cotton thread to make small, delicate varieties of lace. It was popular during the Victorian era. It may have been inspired by “netting,” the process fishermen used to make nets.

Your stool may indeed be a tatting stool. A tatter would tat a lace piece, then roll the stool top a bit and continue as the material wound on a roll and stayed intact. Today tatters use a handheld shuttle or other device with a bobbin or wheel inside that keeps the thread at the correct tension and prevents it from becoming tangled.

Q: I have a patchwork quilt that has some squares that seem to be painted. They all have exactly the same design of flowers. Could it be old? I have seen quilts with embroidered designs but not painted ones.

A: Painted and stenciled patches for quilts have been used since the early 1800s. They are rare, though. Embroidered designs took a long time to create, and painting looked very much the same but took less effort. You could even get precut stencils and stencil the designs on plain fabric.

Ralph and Terry Kovel’s column is syndicated by King Features. Write to: Kovels, (Las Vegas Review-Journal), King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.