How do you start? For us we were at an estate auction and purchased a vase we admired and thought it would look good in our house. It was dark brown with a beautiful thistle hand painted under a glossy glaze. We had no idea we had stumbled across an artist signed J. B. Owens Standard Glaze vase. That one piece led us to learn more about Art Pottery and discover the variety and diversity to the subject. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of options in shape, color, dimension and purpose. Art Pottery can be decorative and utilitarian – statues, vases, door stops, letter holders, coffee pots, cookie jars and on and on.
I often what I tell people to pick a pattern or subject. For instance, I love Weller Coppertone. The color of the pottery is beautiful green and coppery brown – a nature lover’s dream as the pieces often feature frogs, fish, lily pads, and leaves. The pieces are a varied as the details – tiny frogs hop on lily pads vases, fish form the handle on a pitcher and so on. What fun it would be to gunt through antique shows, flea markets, antique shops and malls and even eBay for the illusive Weller Coppertone Frog.