Treasure Box Friday: Things Coming Up Roseville

 You know, I love books on collecting and for the things I do amass I find I peruse those collectors' books like I'm pre-shopping. "Oh, if I found that one some day, it would be nice." And interestingly, I have been able to get some of the pieces I scoped out, and at thrifty prices.

This past weekend, I found one I never, ever imagined finding-- a Roseville Foxglove bowl from the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

I had seen this in my Roseville book with no hope of ever owning it myself due to Roseville's steep prices. But on Saturday, the thrift store came through for me, with a piece that is now a real star in my collection of Ohio pottery pieces.

Nice, too, the soft mint green and pink happen to perfectly match my diningroom. :)

So, that was the real treasure for me this week. Now that the humidity and high temps have swept in, my mind is just on staying cool. Alice below has been as affectionate and lazy as if she were a character in a Tennessee Williams play. :)

(And yes, you COULD scratch the fluffy belly pictured there. She doesn't mind at all. She's shameless.)

Well, hope you all are able to keep cool and find some fun this coming weekend. TGIF to you!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Pocketful of Roseville

Happy New Year to you, my virtual thrifting and antiquing buddies! Here's to an exciting year ahead for fun finds and creative collecting.

While I haven't been doing a whole lot of secondhand shopping lately due to holiday visiting and drafting the follow-up novel to my humorous sci-fi book, There Goes the Galaxy, I did have a little adventure this past weekend.

My bud Scoobie and I went an hour or so westward to the Fiesta outlet in West Virginia, to Pottery City in East Liverpool, Ohio and then north, to Columbiana, Ohio. It was at an antique mall at our last stop where I found my newest curiosity, this art nouveau-ish wall pocket marked Roseville...

Now, I'm not entirely convinced this can be real Roseville pottery. Maybe some of you out there might have a better idea about it-- and I'd appreciate anything you could share. I don't own any Roseville collecting books (yet) because it's always been so pricey, I never really had a hope of finding a piece in a price range I'd feel comfortable with. 

But the style certainly looks right. And there's a marking on the back, though I know with fakes that doesn't always mean anything...

Even if it is a fake, I only paid... wait for it... $12.50. So if it is a replica piece, it will look just as pretty on the wall in my diningroom, and I won't feel like it was a gigantic loss.

Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what you folks think!

Have you come across any fascinating finds this year? And if so, what's tickled your fancy?

Onward, to more thrifty 2012 treasures!
--Jenn

Treasure Box Wednesday: Porcelain, Pottery, and Personality

In the world of secondhand treasure hunting, it's funny how things go in cycles. You can spend years looking for a certain type of thing, and then in a short span of time you will find that style of item everywhere-- and all for amazing prices.

Recent readers of The Thrift Shop Romantic will probably notice I've been in that cycle of luck with portrait plates and bowls lately. And my thrifting buddy Scoobie has been having a similar sort of good fortune with the Western-themed goodies she collects.

This elaborate unmarked bowl was a find from the Riverfront Antique Mall in New Philadelphia, Ohio...

With its extensive detail and deep aqua color, it was a quick decision for me to bring it home. You can see a close-up on the French lady transfer portrait here.

I also found this little Austrian portrait bowl at the same antique mall. It was in a booth that had mostly hardware and lamp parts, and it seemed real luck to me I stumbled upon it. And at $8, it was very affordable.
Lastly, at the Red, White and Blue thrift store in Bellevue, I got this cheerful little pottery teapot planter...
(No, it's not a real teapot. You'd be boiling up dirt residue from its insides, if you used it that way!). What I liked about it was how much personality it seemed to have. There's something vaguely like Disney animation about it to me... like if it took off dancing to a musical number you wouldn't really be that surprised.

Anyway, that puts a lid on this Treasure Box Wednesday. I hope to get back into doing some humorous recipe and general collectibles posts soon, but I've been spending some time trying to get an agent for the novel I wrote, so my energies are temporarily elsewhere.

Happy Hunting!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Glass Amass

Hey there, folks! Well, I've successfully moved my Dad up north with me-- it was a long, strange adventure, but eventually we made it-- and I thought it was time to give you all some new pretties to look at.

I'd been hoping I'd come back from Florida with lovely shots of local flora and fauna, but unfortunately my activities didn't get a chance to run in that direction. So my first break in the last week led me to a little Thrift Therapy!

The first item I found was this cute little pottery bird planter. I think it might be California pottery, but haven't verified yet...
I liked the glaze, particularly around their feet.

I also got my hands on this pretty lusterware plate...
It's funny only recently I've found some interesting lusterware pieces after not seeing any for quite a while. The cycle of thrift is always surprising.

And last, I netted this stained glass lampshade...
I think it might be designed to go on some kind of jar candle, but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, the roses and general colors spoke to me. And at just $3 it seemed well worth it.

So that's what's in the Treasure Box for this week. I hope the week ahead of you is filled with shiny goodness, too!

When All Hull Breaks Loose: Collecting Hull Pottery

My first piece of Hull Pottery was a thrift store find that had some structural issues. I loved the style of it-- the matte finish, the soft pastels, the art deco/art nouveau styling-- but chips kept it from being drooled over by serious collectors.

It was a little number in the Wildflower pattern, from about 1946...
And in spite of its chips, its cheerful palette and overall look encouraged me to bring it home.

This last weekend I uncovered two more Hull Pottery pieces, and now the trio stands proudly on top of my china cabinet...
The haul of Hull inspired me to do a little digging in my Collectors Encyclopedia of Hull Pottery, by Brenda Roberts...
...And I thought I'd share with you what I learned.

While Hull Pottery began in 1905 as the A.E. Hull Pottery Company of China Street, Crooksville, Ohio, it had a convoluted history involving acquisitions-- like the Acme Pottery Company-- tiling manufacturing throughout the 20s, and even the management of the Shawnee Pottery Company in the 1937, before it evolved into the company we think of today.

It was the late 1930s and into the 1940s, where Hull began vases in the Iris, Potty, Tulip and Wildflower shapes, in the soft colors and gentle detailing so recognizable as Hull. (They're also known for those Red Ridinghood Cookie Jars and other novelty pieces you may see at antique malls and yard sales!).

The pottery continued through a flood in the 50s which caused a kiln to explode and the factory to catch fire. Then with rebuilding and restructuring, the company continued in various iterations during the 1950s, with serving ware and florist ware well into the 1970s. According to Wikipedia, it was in March, 1986 the Hull Pottery company ceased operations and closed the plant.

This is the small Iris patterned vase I picked up this weekend.
This was my particular favorite, a 1940s Tulip patterned Hull vase
The mark below, on the small vase says it's "Hull Fine Pottery" but I didn't find that mark in my book. Could it be knock-off Hull?...

I don't know the answer. I know there are supposed to be many Hull imitators out there-- particularly in the Red Riding Hood theme. But, honestly, even if it isn't original Hull, I still like the shape of the vase.
And if you like the look of Hull pieces, I suggest you be sure to shop around. Many pieces I see in my travels are in the $40 and up range (mostly UP), but it is possible to find nice pieces under $20-- though it takes time and patience. Unlike McCoy, Hull typically can't be found for thrifty prices!

All hail Hull! (And I'll see you Wednesday, for this coming week's Treasure Box post.)

Treasure Box Wednesday: Out With the Old, In with the Also Kinda Old

Thanks to the beauty of thrift stores, I feel lucky that I don't really need anything. Oh, sure, I might keep my eye out for certain items I enjoy collecting, but I've also been going through old stuff that's truly surplus to requirement and donating it back.

It's the Circle of Thrift.

Though I suppose, this week, these are technically the circles of thrift...
I'd been keeping my eye out for some glass spheres to put in a bowl. The print behind them is Waterhouse's "The Crystal Ball," where a medieval maiden peers into a glass sphere to see, presumably, the future.

I'd been picturing the bowl filled with glass spheres in my mind for a while, as a nice decorative tie-in. But you'd be surprised how expensive these things can get!

As workarounds, I'd considered using fishing floats and Christmas ornaments, but didn't spy any that would work at the right price. Until I found someone's paperweight collection at the Red, White & Blue on Route 51 this weekend.

And all nice and plain and not engraved with, say, the name of a tourist location. You'd be surprised how many of those are out there, too. I just don't think the medieval maiden would peer into a ball with a dolphin etched into it reading "Fort Lauderdale," do you? :)

I also uncovered this nice little unmarked mint green pottery flowerpot...

I really like the shape. I don't think it's unmarked McCoy, but it looks nice with McCoy and Hull pieces.

And lastly, at the Goodwill in Indiana, PA, I uncovered a beautiful rose-printed luster bowl...
It actually had a good layer of dirt on it when I picked it up. But knew a moment or two with some suds would do wonders!...
So today, I have two big bags of donations I must remember to give back to the thrifts. I'm working to organize some closet space, and I'd like to send the unused items to the one place I know they'll be appreciated.

Hope you all had an enjoyable Fourth of July. For today, I guess it's time now for me to roll on out of here.

Treasure Box Wednesday: Partying with Fiestaware

While here at The Thrift Shop Romantic, we typically delve into vintage resale finds, there happens to be one so-functional collectible that is still being produced, and hasn't changed much since its birth in East Liverpool, Ohio in the 1930s-- decorative, art deco Fiesta.

I've been picking up pieces of this, both new and used, to balance out the plethora of purple pottery plates I'd found at Big Lots over the last few months. I love the big deep mugs and bowls, but the sheer purpleness of it all was a bit much. It was starting to look like Tim Burton's kitchen cabinets.

But most interestingly, this last week, retail stores actually came through to give me the balance I'd wanted-- and in a huge way. (I know: it gave me a little unnerved shiver, too.)

Department stores Kohls and-- of all places, the normally-pricey Macy's-- have had big sales on the dinnerware. 40% off in the case of Kohls, and Buy-One-Get-One-Free at Macy's.

So I chose some colors I knew would work with my kitchen, and was able to pre-order some to be picked up this very Wednesday evening. It's going to feel a little bit like Christmas, I suspect.

One thing worth noting-- the "Lemongrass" color above has photographed much more yellow than it appears to be in person-- in my kitchen it looks like a bright lime/Depression glass green. Lighting is funny that way...
Which is why I recommend anyone looking to buy Fiesta who hasn't done so before, and might not know what the various color names mean, to make sure you see it in person to start.

I'd noticed the new Kelly Green that's out appears actually way more green-green than it looks online as well. So just a word to the wise.

The other nice thing about the newer Fiesta is that, beginning in the 80s, the Homer Laughlin company began making sure the glazes were lead-free. You can identify many of these pieces by the "lead-free" mark on the bottom.

So tonight, I'll be putting on my sombrero, gathering up my maracas, and having myself a Fiesta! And as always, you're more than welcome to join the party. :)

Have a great rest of your week!