Is it time to investigate Roseville Pottery?
I grew up with several pieces of Roseville Pottery around the house. One piece was used as a fruit bowl; another as a decorative piece for the formal dinning table when it was not in use as a dinner table. They were pretty pieces, but no one in the family considered them to be of great value; they were just part of the collection of generational “hand-me-downs” that we kept because people we loved, and who had passed on had lived with them.
Eventually, these pieces made there way to Kathy and I. We liked them because they had “provenance” in my family. Our surprise came when, after years of marriage, we began to look into antique stores for the furnishings of our house and stumbled across some Roseville Pottery pieces. We looked at the prices, and then at each other. We had no idea the value of our little collection!! So, we began to selectively buy some additional pieces.
The history of Roseville Pottery is well documented, so I won’t comment much on that except to say that this company, established in 1890 produced its final designs in 1953. Since then, Roseville Pottery has become very collectible. In the 1970’s there was a resurgence of interest from “baby boomers”, many of whom had undoubtedly seen Roseville Pottery in the homes of their grandparents, or other relatives. Then in the 1990’s early 2000’s there was another boom in the market for Roseville Pottery.
The market for Roseville products has gotten softer since the economic crash of 2008, but is holding steady at this time. If you are interested in this Roseville Pottery, it is a good time to investigate what is available on the market now…while prices are reasonable.
We have several lovely pieces of Roseville Pottery at the Oregon Street Antique Mall….
Happy Hunting…
Phillip Barker
